Dignity
by The-Windflower-Fairy
Summary: Yuffie is forced to get married to someone she doesn't love, she doesn't have any choice. Just like she doesn't choose to fall in love with Vincent either. So how is this gonna play out? Badly, that's how. A Yuffentine, with a fair few complications.
1. Prologue

**Hiya! Thanks for opening this up after that crappy summary, but I don't want to give anything away. Trust me, the story will be better that way. Hopefully. So yeah, please read on. With any luck you'll like it. I'm pretty sure Yuffentine fans will, when the story gets going. :)**

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_**Prologue**_

"How could you do this to me Yuffie?"

He just didn't understand.

I pressed my lips together tightly to refrain from saying something I'd later regret. I shouldn't lose my temper with him, this mess wasn't his fault.

It was mine, my fault.

I looked at him. His expression was tense, trying to hide his feelings. I knew him well enough to know his eyes would give him away, so I searched them with my own, trying to find something that resembled understanding. Or maybe forgiveness. I found neither.

Instead his usually deep, warm eyes were cold and hard. In them I saw mostly anger, and jealousy. There was also sadness and for a split second, pure hatred. He hated me for what I'd done, but I knew he loved me too. Hmm, love or hate? I wondered which emotion would win out over the other. Either way, I wasn't going to get out of being punished for my deeds. If love won, I'd be disgraced. I'd be disowned by my father, and the people of Wutai. If hate won...I didn't want to think about what would happen, but I knew it would hurt. I hadn't fully recovered from last time. Did he really hate me _that _much? What did he say before? Something about hating how much he loved me...

"Say something!" he pleaded.

I was drawn out of my reverie by his voice. He sounded angry but desperate at the same time.

"I don't know what you want me to say." I said truthfully.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand. I could tell he was losing patience with me.

"Why?" he asked again, "You knew what was at stake, what would happen, and you went ahead and did it anyway."

I sighed. "I know."

"Is that all you have to say?" he said angrily. His hands began to shake, and he clenched them into fists.

I swallowed nervously before answering: "I've already told you why."

"I don't understand your reasons." He said, before he looked me in the eye and muttered quietly, "I loved you."

Tears stung my eyes. I felt so guilty; I'd hurt him so much. Then again, he'd hurt me back, physically.

"I don't think you did," I said bravely, "not really. But that's no excuse. I'm so sorry."

He glared at me with those cold eyes. "Sorry isn't good enough!"

He started towards me, his expression sinister. I backed away into the wall and raised my arms to protect myself.

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**Well, that was dark and dramatic wasn't it? There's some light hearted Yuffieness in the next chapter though, promise! I'm posting up the prologue and chapter 1 together for you, and chapter 2 is halfway written. So you don't have to wait. :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	2. Catch Me If You Can!

**Hi. Okay then, because he makes me laugh (especially in the fan fic's I read), Reno's in this chapter. I _guess _it could _hint _as a Reffie, but not really. It's 'cos I like Reffie's and Yuffentine's. I can't help it, I can't pick just one...**

**Oh yeah! I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of it's characters. I _do _own my OC (I get to claim something!), who's coming in the next chapter.**

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_Yuffie's POV_

Im home free! Godo can't catch me now!

Why am I running from my _darling _father? Well, he told me yesterday evening that I was getting married. Pfft! Yeah, keep dreaming daddy! There is no way on Gaia I'm getting married to some old creep that's got nothing going for him except the size of his (over inflated) bank account.

"On the contrary, he's twenty one Yuffie; same age as you." Godo said patiently after I'd voiced these thoughts.

"Oh, that's alright then." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "I am _not _having an _arranged marriage _dad! End of."

"Daughter, be reasonable. He's the best suitor for you. Did you know he's also a ninja?"

"So what? I've never met him before in my life! Im not going to marry a total stranger!"

"You've got a month before you'll be wed, that's more than enough time to get to know him." Godo was starting to lose patience with me.

"I don't want to get to know him! I want to marry someone I'm actually in love with, if I even get married at all!"

"Yuffie! You're marrying the suitor at the end of the month and that's final!"

Yeah right! I don't think so. I was getting the hell outta there. So, at the early hours of the morning while Wutai slept, I snuck out of the city using my unsurpassable ninja skills. 'Cos stealthy is my middle name. Did you know my dad had guards posted all around the city? No doubt he knew I was going to run and posted the guards in an attempt to stop my flight. Nice try Godo. But that's not going to work on the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi! The royal soldiers of Wutai didn't even hinder my escape, and I fled the city with ease.

So here I was, sat fairly comfortably in a sycamore tree, a good few miles away from Wutai, with a small bag of supplies and my Conformer strapped to my back. I suppose I should head for Edge to go see Tifa. Hopefully she'll take me in for a while. Well, there's no way Cid will come pick me up, so this means I'll have to take a ferry. I groaned internally. Motion sickness: not good.

I sighed and stood up, balancing on a large branch of the tree. The sun was just rising, bathing the landscape in a warm glow and tinting everything gold. I smiled at the beauty of it, then stepped of the branch into thin air and did a neat pike before landing on the balls of my feet. I straightened and breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh morning air, and took my first step forward.

It was then I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me, and I spun round, reaching behind me for my Conformer in case it was some form of ugly monster. What emerged was...

"Reno!"

Like I said, _some _form of ugly monster.

"Hey legs." Reno said, sauntering up to me with a smile on his face. I lowered my hand from behind my back, and instead put both hands on my hips.

"What're you doing here?" I asked him. It was weird he'd be all the way out here on Turk business, and without Rude too.

"I could ask you the same question doll." He replied.

"Oh, I get it. You can't tell me 'cos it's some top secret Turk mission." I said, nodding wisely. "No problem, I was just leaving anyway." I turned around and took my second step forward, before Reno grabbed both my wrists.

"Woah! What the hell are you doing?" I shrieked. I struggled, trying to rip my arms from his grasp, but he already had them tied behind my back. I aimed a roundhouse kick in his direction, which he neatly dodged and then swung his own leg out, effectively knocking my legs from under me. I practically fell flat on my face as my hands were tied behind my back and I couldn't catch my fall.

"Sorry babe," He said as he tied my ankles together, "Your dad paid me a good amount to bring you back. I just couldn't resist."

"Reno!" I said, outraged by the audacity of it all, "I-I'll pay you double whatever he is!"

"Nothing doing Princess." He said, grinning, "I know you'll only go back on it later." And with that he scooped me up and slung me over his shoulder.

"Reno! What the fuck?! Put me down right now!" I wriggled, trying to make him drop me.

"Stop squirming!" he ordered, "You're going back to Wutai. Live with it." He said as he started walking.

"I don't want to go back to Wutai! You don't understand! Godo's going to make me get _married!" _I pronounced the word as if it was a curse.

"Is he really?" Reno said, sounding totally uninterested.

"Yes! Can you see how hard life is for me?"

"Sure." He said. I couldn't see his expression, as I was slung over his shoulder, but it sounded like there was a smile in his voice.

"Are you laughing at me?! 'Cos this is anything but funny!"

He ignored me, and instead re-adjusted me on his shoulder.

"Ow! Be careful, I bruise easily! And watch where you're putting your hands!"

I heard him sigh. I couldn't believe this. Not only that Reno was carrying my petite form as though he'd just hunted me, but also that my father had hired a _Turk _to drag me back. I would have thought he'd have sent Wutai's finest soldiers in an _attempt _to bring me back. Not like they'd be able to, and maybe he knew this. Damn, my father was getting to _know _me. What was happing to the world?

"So babe," Reno said, starting the conversation back up, "Who's the unlucky guy?"

I tried to knee him in the chest, with little success. "That's just the point! I don't even know him!"

"Well, that sucks." said Reno, not sounding that sympathetic.

"Tell me about it." I muttered. Well Yuffie, hate to internally monologue it; but it looks like you're not getting out of this. Shit. This is so unfair! I don't wanna get married! No! No no no no no-

"So chick, you gonna invite me to your wedding?" Reno asked.

"There is not going to be a wedding Reno!"

"Uh huh. Sounds to me like you're deluding yourself. You do realise your dad's probably going to gag you and tie you to the altar or something right?"

I sighed, that sounded just like Godo.

"That actually sounds pretty accurate." I said miserably.

"Tough luck babes, but you need someone to rule Wutai with you right? You can just get him to do all the work."

I giggled. "Yeah, he can be my political slave for life."

Reno laughed. "See, there's always a bright side."

"Mm hm." I replied, smiling while envisioning my new husband drowning in paperwork and having to deal with my stubborn and ignorant 'advisors'. Muhahaha!

I spent the next few minutes happily visualising my husband in various boring, tiresome and laborious situations, while I would be doing awesome missions for Reeve and running around with my awesomeness. But I soon got bored of that, because the man I envisioned probably looked nothing like the man I was supposed to marry, as I'd never actually met my husband to be before.

"Hey Reno? Can you put me down now? I'm not going to run away, I admit defeat."

"Hmm, I dunno." He said in reply, "Can't trust a ninja..."

"Excuse me?! Says_ you_? A Turk!"

He re-adjusted me on his shoulder rather roughly.

"HEY! Watch it!" I shouted. He laughed.

"This isn't funny Reno! Put me down!"

"Erm, no." He said, continuing down the dirt path he was following. I guessed that we were fairly close to Wutai now.

"Come on Reno, please?" Begging was always my last option, the White Rose of Wutai does not _beg, _but this was a special situation, "Pretty please with chocolate sprinkles on top?"

"Sorry babes," Reno said, "I'll untie you when we get to Wutai."

"No! Untie me now! _Please? _Reno, _please_? Put me down? I'll owe you a big favour!"

He sighed. "Tempting Princess, but no."

"Reno, give me a break will ya? You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Am I? 'Cos usually I just take the highest bid."

"I offered you more than Godo!"

"I know you'll just take it back later."

"No I won't! Please?" I tried one last time at begging/persuasion.

"Nope, sorry." said Reno, not sounding very sorry at all.

I sighed in defeat. "I hate you."

He chuckled. "Of course Princess, wouldn't have it any other way."

-x-

We arrived back in Wutai about an hour later. I was surprised Reno had managed to walk all that way carrying me over his shoulder, but maybe I just underestimate his strength. At any rate, he wasted no time in bringing me straight to the palace.

"Here she is, Your Highness. Alive, just as you requested." Reno joked, throwing me down on the many small cushions that littered around the place. I glared at him, With his crappy sense of humour...

"Thank you." Said Godo, "Your payment is with the maid as you leave."

Reno bowed respectively, then turned and winked at me before leaving.

I pouted. Godo was looking at me disapprovingly.

"Yuffie-" he started, but I cut him off.

"Yeah yeah, whatever old man, just untie me will you?"

He sighed and ordered one of the servants to untie me. I rubbed my wrists and refused to look at my father.

"I knew you'd run Yuffie. It's what your mother would have done when she was your age."

I looked at him then. He never talked about my mother. Never.

He smiled at me. "I know you better than you think, and I knew you wouldn't agree to this without a fight."

I smiled sheepishly. He _did _know me. Well, you learn something new every day.

"Is that why you sent Reno to come and get me?" I asked, "'Cos you knew the guards wouldn't be able to?"

He nodded. "I know perfectly well how strong you are Yuffie, and I'm very proud of you."

My eyes widened. Do my ears deceive me? He couldn't have just said he was _proud _of me. I was pretty sure he was anything but that.

"Yuffie, I'm asking you to do this one thing for me. I already know how capable you are, but sometimes you need guidance."

I sighed. I couldn't really argue with that.

"Your husband can give you this guidance. When I pass away, I want to be safe in the knowledge that Wutai will prosper, and that you will be alright."

Damn it! He was giving a good argument. This was so unfair.

Godo looked at me pleadingly. "Please Yuffie?"

I exhaled angrily. "Fine." I said, defeated, "I'll marry the suitor."

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**'Yuffie Kisaragi, giving in and marrying her suitor?' I hear you ask, 'Isn't this supposed to be a Yuffentine?' The answer is yes, good readers, we're getting there. It's all part of the plan in my head, so you gotta be patient with me, 'kay?**

**xoxo**


	3. Stranger

**Hey guys and girls. Im not dead! Yay! Here's an update for you.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII, and I can dream as much as I want, but that's not going to change. Unfortunately. However, I made up my OC all by myself, so you can't have him! And neither can Square Enix! They want him? They can buy him off me for a million pounds! *Sticks tongue out*.**

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I had agreed to marry whatever suitor my father had picked put for me, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

I sat quietly at the dresser in my room while my maids fussed over me. Fiddling with my hair and adjusting my kimono dress, making sure I looked perfect for my meeting with my, dare I say it...fiancé. Ugh. Usually I wouldn't let them, but I was feeling a little dejected lately, for obvious reasons.

"Princess Yuffie, he's here." A random servant announced.

I sighed. Well, here goes nothing. I stood slowly, motioning to the maids to go do their duties. They bowed respectively, before leaving me alone.

I gave myself a once over in the tall mirror next to my too-large wardrobe, I actually looked...quite pretty, I suppose. But don't think of me as vain or anything. The maids had applied a small amount of makeup, though you couldn't tell I had any on, making me look naturally flawless (Yay!). The kimono dress made me look graceful and elegant. I smiled wryly to myself; my fiancé's first impression of me would be nothing like the person I actually was.

I strode out of my room with my head held high. This guy needs to know who's boss. And it ain't him.

"Yuffie, hurry up!" Godo's voice could be heard clearly even up three flights of stairs.

"I'm coming!" I shouted in reply. Gawd, he was so impatient...

I very nearly broke my neck on the way down the last flight of stairs after tripping over the hem of my dress. Therefore I ended up stumbling into the throne room, trying to regain my balance, and would have fallen flat on my face if wasn't for the guard stationed at the bottom of the stairs who caught me.

"Woah, thanks." I said to him. He bowed slightly, saying nothing. I looked up to find Godo looking at me disapprovingly and standing with another man who looked quite young, and quite handsome actually. Huh. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes that sort of took on a hint of deep gold around the outside of his irises. I blinked in astonishment at them, until I caught sight of his expression. He was looking at me and smirking, as if he was trying not to laugh. For a second I was offended. Until I realised he was probably smirking because I nearly fell down the stairs. Oh. I smiled at him sheepishly, a hint of pink coming to my cheeks. Well Yuffie, the graceful and dignified entrance just went out the window.

"Yuffie, my daughter, come and meet Kai. He is now your fiancé."

'Oh yeah? I must have missed the proposal.' I thought bitterly. I started walking towards them when Kai side-stepped around my father and closed the gap between us.

"Princess Yuffie Kisaragi," he greeted me, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He took my hand and kissed it lightly. My eyebrows raised in quiet surprise. He smiled at me reassuringly, before turning back to my father, and keeping my hand.

"So, Lord Godo, you were saying something about lunch?" he asked politely.

"Ah yes, right this way..." Godo said, leading us to the dining room. I pulled my hand out of Kai's gently. He may have his charms, but he was just a bit _too _friendly if you ask me. And I've only just met him, and he's a total stranger, and-

He has nunchucks! My eyes widened as they took in the weapon strapped to his belt. It looked like it the two sticks were made of a dull metal, and were attached at the ends by a short metal chain. A corner of his mouth lifted when he saw me staring. Then he swivelled round and walked backwards for a second, showing me he had another strapped to his opposite side.

_Twin _nunchucks? Awesomeness.

We all sat down together at the dining table that stretched almost from one end of the room to the other. I rolled my eyes at the small feast the cooks had prepared, just for the three of us. Godo started talking about politics (yawn), and asking Kai how he planned to gain the peoples support. Boring! I decided to counter this sure-to-be longwinded and too complicated conversation with a simple solution.

"Father, I'm sure you're aware there are poor kids living in poverty that are dying of starvation this very second, and we're sat here with a mini feast and talking about how we're gonna get the people to love Kai..." I was gonna leave Kai to figure out that problem, the people already adored me! "Don't you think that Kai could do some charity work or something-with my help-and that we should actually be _doing _and not _talking_?"

Godo blinked, quite obviously surprised with my little speech.

"I agree, that's a wonderful idea Yuffie." Kai said, nodding his head approvingly. Godo looked like he was gonna keep talking, so I stood up.

"May I be excused?" I asked. Godo raised his eyebrows.

"I need to go to the rest room!" I said. Then he let me go.

I ran back up the stairs to my bedroom. I changed into some navy blue shorts and a light blue tank top, then grabbed my Conformer and strapped it to my back. I was _not _going back in that dining room and listening to Godo talk about politics. Nuh uh, eff that. I'd die of boredom! So instead I put on my fingerless blue gloves and laced up my blue boots (blue was my favourite colour that day), and decided to head to the outskirts of Wutai and kick some monsters asses. Hopefully Reno would show up...

I sneaked down to the ground floor and got out of the palace without anyone noticing. Teehee, I am an awesome ninja!

I had been walking along a small dirt path into the forests of Wutai when he showed up out of _nowhere_! I didn't even hear him following me until he spoke.

"Yuffie, you shouldn't be out here alone."

I jumped about a foot in the air before spinning round.

"Kai!" I said, relaxing slightly. "What're you doing here? And what do you mean I shouldn't be out here alone?"

He walked slowly towards me while speaking, "You're supposed to be in a meeting with myself and Lord Godo. If we don't get back soon, he'll know something's up. So I thought I'd come get you before he finds out and scolds you for 'shirking your responsibilities'." He made quotation marks in the air as he said the last three words. Tch, typical, Godo's been talking about me behind my back. "Also, you shouldn't be out here alone because it's fairly dangerous. Who'd look after Wutai if anything happened to you?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, firstly, that meeting's going to bore me into a coma, so I don't care if he yells at me for 'shirking my responsibilities'." I made quotation marks in the air, imitating him, and he smiled. "And secondly, I am the world's greatest ninja. To the world's greatest ninja, these forests are _not_ dangerous_. _There's only gonna be some fairly weak monsters in here. And I don't need anyone to help me fight them either. I could take them all by myself, easy peasy. Therefore," I concluded, "because _nothing _will happen to me, Wutai won't crash and burn."

He nodded thoughtfully before saying, "As deadly as you could be, I don't believe you _are _the world's greatest ninja," he said, smirking, "because I believe _I _take that title."

A giggle escaped my lips before I could stop it. No way was he better than me. No way.

"I think you're in denial." I told him, trying to make my face serious. "My ninja skills totally surpass yours."

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" he asked, drawing his nunchucks. With a flick of his wrists, he got them spinning till they were damn near invisible with speed. I grinned and drew my Conformer.

The fight lasted about a minute, tops. Which was sort-of a long fight for ninjas. A _good_ ninja can incapitate or silence an opponent within about a second. And we were _great _ninja's. Yes, I had to admit, he was a pretty good fighter too. So, you see the impasse here? After a few moments of blocking/dodging each other's frequent and strong attacks, we called it a draw. Though I hated to give up, I'd have to get to know his fighting style before I could find and exploit his weaknesses.

"Good fight." Kai said, grinning and sounding a little out of breath.

"I would have totally owned your butt if we'd gone on a little longer." I said confidently.

He laughed and then said; "Come on Yuffie, your father will be wondering where you are."

I rolled my eyes and sighed, but nodded in agreement. We both walked back to the palace together, each making polite conversation.

-x-

Bored. Im _bored!_

Kai was currently trying to get through the paperwork my father had given him for 'practice'. I however, already knew what the paperwork included, and how to deal with it, so my father let me go do as I pleased. This wasn't much as there was _nothing_ to do! I was sat on a chair near the window in my room, looking across the magnificent garden. Below my balcony was a large, oval shaped swimming pool. Hey, there's an idea! I could go for a swim...or maybe not, considering it was near the end of winter. Hmm, I wanted to get away from Wutai and go on a mission for Reeve. And I miss my friends, especially Tifa, and Vincent. Sigh. Maybe I'll go bother Kai, he might as well get used to it. I smiled to myself and skipped downstairs to find him just finishing his paperwork.

"Hi." I said, sliding into the seat opposite him.

"Sorry Yuffie, Im busy right now." He said, not even looking up at me. I blinked in surprise. He seemed _over _friendly this afternoon, why was he suddenly acting like this?

"I'd appreciate it if I could get on with this in peace." He told me. Wow, fine, I can take a hint!

"Oh, 'kay." I said a little stiffly. I got up and walked away, peeking back at him to get a glimpse of his expression. He had his head down, giving his full attention to his work. Great, my fiancé was a workaholic. Know what that means? Any sort of 'oholic's' (I don't think that's even a word) don't have time for anything-or anyone-else. But he seemed so nice when we first met...I was surprised by the change in him. It was like Reno suddenly vowing to stop drinking. Yeah, I know, shocking right?

-x-

As the weeks went by, my communication with Kai did not improve. He was always "busy". Too busy for his wife-to-be in fact, so I rarely saw him. Godo however, was pleased with him and very impressed with his "work ethic". Pfft!

"Yuffie, daughter, you're getting married quite soon. Are you excited?" asked Godo one night. That was meant to be a rhetorical question right?

Judging by the expectant way my father was looking at me, I guessed not.

"Erm, sure dad. Kai's very..." I struggled to find the right word to describe him, "dedicated." I decided finally. Godo nodded approvingly.

"Indeed, he will make a fine King when the time comes and I pass away. He'll look after you well, daughter."

I inwardly sighed, but nodded. I highly doubted Kai would be there if ever I needed him. Not that I couldn't take care of myself anyway. But if I ever needed help, I thought _Cid _would be more likely to come to my rescue than Kai. And that was saying something. Well, in his defence, maybe he was trying to prove he could be a good leader. Kai was probably just doing everything he could to do what was best for Wutai.

I didn't think that was a good enough excuse to pretty much ignore me though. I _hate_ being ignored!

Kai walked in then, speak of the devil. Actually, I wasn't talking about him, so maybe it applied when you were thinking of a person too. Hmm, I'd have to ponder that later.

"Hello Kai," greeted Godo, "I hope your work went well?"

"Yes, thank you Lord Godo." He replied before he turned to me.

"Um, Yuffie, I was wondering..." He hesitated, looking down at his shoes like a nervous schoolboy. I smiled at the sight, it was so _cute! _"If you'd like to, uh, go out for lunch with me?" He said, smiling at me sheepishly. Aww, bless him! How could I say no to that face?

I giggled and replied, "Of course. Let's go!" I jumped up and went to his side, and Godo smiled in approval.

"So where are we going?" I asked Kai as we walked out of the palace gates. Many people smiled and waved at us.

"I was thinking of that little coffee shop at the end of the street, but we can go wherever you want. Godo told me never to feed you coffee anyway." He told me, smiling warmly.

I laughed. He seemed to be back to the nice guy I'd first met.

"Sure, let's go there. Then I'll get high on caffeine and run circles around Godo when we get back!"

He laughed and nodded, leading me into the shop. It smelled of ground coffee beans and pastries. We both took a seat opposite each other at a table near the window.

A pretty waitress came over and smiled at us widely. "Hello Princess Yuffie, Prince Kai." She said, bowing slightly to both of us in turn. "What would you like?"

Kai looked at me and smiled, silently telling me to order first.

"Um, I'll have a coffee," I said, smiling a little evilly, making Kai chuckle, "and a sugar coated donut...oh, and a fortune cookie please!"

"I'll just have a coffee please." said Kai.

"Coming up." Smiled the waitress, who bowed again before departing.

"So, are you into all that fortune telling stuff?" Kai asked me interestedly. I shrugged.

"I actually think it's quite accurate most times. My mother..." I paused for a second, and Kai's eyes widened a little. It was the first time he'd heard me talk about my mother. "She believed in it, so it sort of rubbed off on me." Kai smiled and nodded in understanding.

"Here you go." The waitress put the designated orders in front of us and bowed before leaving us.

I took a gulp of my coffee, decided it wasn't sweet enough, and poured in about seven of those little sugar sachets. Kai chuckled in amusement.

"You're going to be hyper all day." He commented, sipping his own coffee. I giggled as I stirred in all the sugar. _Now _it was sweet enough. I delicately pulled a small bite off the donut with my fingers and popped it into my mouth, eating in silence.

I heard a phone buzz, and it turned out to be Kai's. It was a text message apparently, as he took a minute to read the screen before hurriedly texting back.

"Who are you texting?" I asked curiously.

"One of your advisors," he said, putting the phone down on the table, "he wants to see me."

"Oh." I said a little disappointedly.

Kai smiled. "I told him he'd have to wait, as I was having lunch with you."

I smiled back brilliantly. _Finally _he was getting his priorities in order! About time too!

I finished the donut and cracked open my fortune cookie. I ate one half as I read;_ 'You will betray the one who you are supposed to be loyal to.'_ I frowned, what the hell does that mean?

"What does it say?" Kai asked.

"You will betray the one who you are supposed to be loyal to," I read out loud, "I wonder what that could mean?"

Kai thought for a second, and then shrugged. "I guess this one isn't that accurate." I nodded thoughtfully, eating the rest of the cookie.

We both sat drinking our coffee's quietly, not really knowing what to say to each other. My hand was resting on the table, and I saw Kai's unique, gold tinted eyes flicker to it occasionally. Eventually though, he reached out and hesitantly rested his own hand on top of mine. I smiled at him encouragingly, but then his phone rang, and he moved his hand from mine to pick it up. He glanced at the caller I.D and then stood.

"Im sorry, I have to take this." He said, walking around the table and leaving the shop. Through the shop window, I saw him talking into his phone with his back to me.

I sighed. I'd known my fiancé for almost a month, and he was still a complete stranger.

* * *

**Right, that's done. Sorry if im boring you, but please keep reading! 'Cos Vincent is in the next chapter! YAY! Oh, and I hope because no one has reviewed it means that there's nothing I can improve on (HA! That would be a first...), I'd really appreciate it if you pointed out any spelling or grammar mistakes and whatnot. **

**Come on people, reviews help me write faster!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	4. The Wedding

**Hi. I decided to upload this chapter the same time as the last to make up for not including any Yuffentine awesomeness in the last few chapters. Vinnie's in this one!**

**Again, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. I don't make any profit from writing this, I just hope you'll enjoy reading it!**

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My final month of freedom was up. I was getting married, today! Holy crap!

Okay, keep calm Yuffie, keep composure. Breathe.

On the bright side though, Kai was paying for everything! Yep, the whole wedding, and the after party (that I had _insisted _we must have), and the..._honeymoon_ too. Shudder. I _really _hoped we wouldn't have to do what 'normal' married couples would do on their honeymoon. I'd prefer to lose my virginity to someone I _actually _loved thanks.

Speaking of people I didn't _actually _love, myself and Kai had had a fair few rows lately. I had tried to tell Godo I wasn't ready to get married yet, but he was having none of it. So I went and appealed to Kai, who became a bit angry with me and we ended up having an argument. I wasn't fazed however, and I continued to try and convince him to postpone the wedding, each time not succeeding and having a row with him over it instead. But it was _today,_ which is why I'd gone to ask him one last time to change it to a later date, which is why we were now in a mega humongous and slightly scary argument, both of us stomping around the palace as we shouted at each other.

"Why would you want to postpone the wedding Yuffie?" he said loudly, "I don't understand why you're so petrified of marriage!"

"I am _not_ petrified of marriage!" I retorted, following him down the main hallway, "I just don't want to get married _yet!"_

"Why the hell not?! You're a Princess, you should've been preparing for this since you turned sixteen!"

"The reason I don't want to get married is because I don't love you!" His fists clenched at that. "Oh, and I'm sorry, but when I was sixteen I was only on a mission to stop Sephiroth from bringing about Meteor and destroying the planet! I apologise that I didn't have time to prepare for marrying some random guy!" I screeched.

"Oh get over yourself!" he said bitterly, looking back at me as we rounded a corner and walked into the throne room (thankfully my father wasn't there) "It wasn't just you who saved the planet! You would have failed if you'd had no help!"

"Are you saying I'm not a good ninja?!" That was a _really _bad insult! "Because if you are..." I was too angry to finish the threat, and he laughed.

"DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME!" I exploded, "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A NINJA!"

"WHAT?!" Kai shouted, increasing the volume of his voice as well.

"AND NOT ONLY ARE YOU A PATHETIC FIGHTER, YOU'RE THE MOST PATHETIC FIANCE EVER! YOU _ALWAYS_ PUT YOUR WORK IN FRONT OF ME!"

"I DO ALL THE WORK SO WE HAVE OUR FINANCES IN ORDER! WHICH IS MORE THAN I CAN SAY FOR YOU; YOU NEVER DO _ANYTHING_ FOR YOUR COUNTRY!"

"I DO _PLENTY_ FOR MY COUNTRY THANK YOU!" I screamed, thinking of all the times I had robbed innocent, defenceless people of their materia. Even going so far as to steal from my Avalanche friends...tears formed in my eyes when I remembered how they'd all looked at me with angry and disappointed eyes. Vincent was disappointed in me especially, and that really stung. I decided to turn my hurt into anger.

"AND ARE YOU SAYING YOU'D RATHER PUT MONEY IN FRONT OF ME TOO?!" I shouted as loud as I could.

"Don't be so ridiculous!" he shouted back, though it looked like I'd won the volume battle. He turned another corner and started up the stairs to his (temporary) room.

There was a small-but very expensive-glass ornament that some famous Wutain artist had created, sitting on a tall stand. This catching my eye, knowing he was particularly fond of it, and that he'd bought it, I decided to test him.

"Ridiculous huh? If that's so, then you won't mind if I smash this then!" I shouted up to him, him being on the landing and myself being at the bottom of the stairs.

"DON'T YOU DARE YUFFIE!" I didn't doubt the whole palace could hear us. I picked up the fragile ornament in both hands, and then let it drop, smashing it into a hundred tiny pieces.

"WHOOPS!" I shouted so he could hear me, "IT SLIPPED!"

"Um, Yuffie?" a timid voice asked.

I turned to see Tifa, staring wide eyed at me, along with the rest of Avalanche. Huh, Godo must have invited them to the wedding for me. I was gonna call them later today...

"Tifa!" I exclaimed, running over and hugging her, "Hi guys!" I said, releasing her gently and looking around everyone, most of them had vaguely amused expressions on their faces, "How have you-"

I was interrupted by an almighty crash from upstairs. I looked up at the ceiling and glared.

"Hold that thought." I told my Avalanche friends, turning back to the stairs and shouting up them.

"KAI! IF YOU'RE SMASHING MY THINGS I WILL _SLAUGHTER _YOU! DON'T EVEN STEP _ONE FOOT_ IN MY ROOM!"

Barret and Cid collapsed about laughing. Which made me giggle too, and I instantly felt better. Cloud was smiling a little, though Tifa was looking a bit concerned. Vincent's face remained expressionless.

There was another loud crash from above, and I heard Kai's voice shouting down, "SMASHING MY ORNAMENT WAS TOTALLY UNREASONABLE YUFFIE!"

"_YOU'RE_ BEING UNREASONABLE BY FORCING ME TO MARRY YOU! AND JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT THE FIRST TIME, LET ME SAY IT AGAIN; I, DON'T, LOVE, YOU!" I screamed so loud I thought my throat would tear; knowing those last four words would get to him. He responded by slamming a door deafeningly.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply for a few seconds, as my insides felt a bit wobbly, then turned back to my friends with a big smile on my face. Barret and Cid were chuckling, Cloud smiling, Tifa looking at me with concerned eyes, and Vincent was frowning.

"Sorry, about that..." I said, a little embarrassed, "how much did you hear?"

They all looked a little awkward for a second, until Tifa responded; "Since the 'sorry for not preparing for marriage but I was fighting Sephiroth' part."

"Wonderful." I muttered.

Cid wiped a tear or laughter from his eye and said, "Fucking hell brat, you and that Kai are gonna end up killing each other before you're thirty!"

Tifa frowned and cuffed him round the back of his head. "Language!" she warned.

"Damn Boobs, take it easy!" said Cid. I giggled, and then noticed Vincent was still frowning slightly, staring at me.

"What's up Vince?" I asked. He blinked and looked at the many shards of glass on the floor, then back to my face.

"Nothing." He said, seemingly searching my face for some hidden emotion.

"Ah, talkative as always." I commented, heavy on the sarcasm, grinning at him. He didn't respond.

I sighed and went up to Tifa, taking her hand, "Come on Teefs, I'd better start getting ready, and you're helping me. Did I mention you, Marlene and Elena are my bridesmaids?" Tifa's eyes widened.

"No! Oh my god, really? But what about dresses-"

"Already got them ready and waiting Teef. The Turks _are_ here aren't they?" I asked, leading her towards the stairs (trying not to stand on the broken glass).

"Yes, they came on the Shera with us."

"Good." I said, before stopping and turning to the males of Avalanche, who, naturally, did not show up in anything even resembling a suit.

"You guys didn't bring a suit for yourself did you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Uh...no." Cloud said apologetically.

"Hell no." was Cid's response.

"'fraid not." said Barret.

Vincent just shook his head.

I rolled my eyes, but then smiled wickedly.

"Don't worry gentlemen; I'm sure I can get some for you to choose from." I said angelically.

Cid and Barret cursed under their breath, Cloud looked apprehensive, and Vincent didn't react. I laughed evilly.

-x-

A few hours later, Tifa, Marlene and Elena were all ready in their pale gold kimono dresses and I was just sliding the last flower grip into my hair. I was wearing a long (and very tight fitting) white kimono with long sleeves and pretty gold patterns everywhere. Elena sighed as she took in my appearance.

"You look beautiful Yuffie!" she complimented. I smiled widely at her reflection in the mirror.

"You look pretty damn gorgeous yourself." I told her. She laughed.

"Okay Tifa, is Denzel ready?" I asked. Denzel was going to be my little ring bearer.

"Yep, got the rings waiting on a velvet cushion, guarding them with his life." she giggled.

I laughed too. "Have Cloud, Vincent, Cid and Barret changed into their suits?"

"Not sure," she replied, "I'll go check for you."

I nodded. "Thanks Tifa. Make sure they're ready!"

"Will do." She took Marlene's hand and they both left the room.

"I'd better go check on Reno and make sure he hasn't got drunk yet." Elena said, shaking her head and following after them, "See you soon Yuffie!"

"In fifteen minutes in fact." I said, glancing at the clock. It was almost four, eek!

I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." I said to whomever it was, not looking away from the mirror.

"Wow." An appreciative voice said. I looked round to see Kai staring at me and smiling. I raised my eyebrows.

"Isn't it bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other just before the wedding?" I asked.

"I guess, but I just wanted to apologise," He said, stepping into my room, "I am sincerely sorry. I didn't mean the things I said. Forgive me?"

I sighed. "Yeah, Im sorry for the things I said too, and for smashing that ornament."

Kai shrugged. "No big deal. For the record, I think you're an amazing ninja."

I grinned. "I suppose your skill _could _match mine...in a few hundred years."

He smirked. "Yeah we'll see about that. I'll see you at the altar then." He said as he walked out. "Oh," he turned, pausing at the door, "You look incredible by the way."

I smiled at him gently and he left. Then I got up and grabbed my bouquet (white and yellow roses, with some lilies dotted here and there), and headed down a flight of stairs to the room in which I was supposed to wait. I breathed deeply and waited for the music to start, my cue to leave.

There was a light knock on the door. "Yuffie? May I come in?"

I recognised that voice well. "Sure Vincent."

He opened the door and stepped inside, then stopped short, staring.

I giggled. He blinked.

"You look surprised at my incredible beauty," I said, teasing him, "nice tux by the way. Black, how very you."

He "hn'ed" and closed the door behind him, then he walked up to me slowly.

"What's up?" I asked him. He stopped in front of me, pausing awkwardly.

"I...don't think you're happy." He said.

I blinked in surprise.

"Do you want to marry him Yuffie?" he asked seriously.

"Uh, well..." I wasn't sure what I should say. I decided to go for the truth. I could tell Vincent anything. "No. I don't. I want to marry someone I love, and it's pretty hard to love him if I never see him, and the times when I do we only argue."

Vincent nodded. "Then you should put a stop to this."

I smiled sadly and shook my head. "I can't, it doesn't work that way."

"Have you told Kai you are not ready to be married?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, only about a hundred times, but he won't listen to me. That's what we were fighting about this morning. I think all of Gaia heard us." I laughed.

Vincent did not laugh. Instead he gazed at me with something close to concern. I pouted.

"What's wrong Vinnie?"

He sighed at the use of my nickname for him, and I grinned. He said he'd _tolerate_ it, but I knew he liked it really.

"...Kai doesn't strike me as a nice person." He said simply.

I thought about that for a second. "You may have a fair argument there." I told him truthfully.

He frowned and looked at me in a way that made me wish I'd kept my mouth shut.

"Yuffie-"

"Don't get the wrong idea about him!" I hurried to correct my mistake, "He's a nice guy really."

His frown only deepened.

"It may not be my place to say, but I don't think you should marry Kai, Yuffie."

I shrugged. "Too late now, he's already paid for everything!" I joked.

"It's not too late."

I sighed. "Vinnie, I have to marry him. All I gotta do is repeat after the minister and say 'I do' at the right time, and then it's over."

He gazed at me steadily for a moment, before saying "I didn't like the way he spoke to you...or rather shouted at you." I was surprised to hear a small ripple of anger under his usually smooth, velvet voice.

"It was no big deal, couples have arguments all the time right? He apologised to me a few minutes ago anyway."

"He still shouldn't have said what he did."

I smiled. "Relax Vince! He's the best suitor I've _ever_ come across, it would be stupid not to take this opportunity and run with it."

There was a short pause.

"If you will not put a stop to this...then I will." He said, turning around and starting to walk back the way he came.

"No Vincent! Stop!" I ran in front of him and put my hands on his chest to halt his advance.

"Listen! Godo will _flip out_ if _anyone_ ruins this, and that includes you, no matter how many soldiers you can shoot within a second. Not only will he hang you for treason or something, but he'd murder me using much more painful methods." Vincent winced slightly. "Exactly! So you understand my position here?"

He sighed, debating internally with himself.

Yes, perhaps I was exaggerating just a little. Drama queen, that was me! But he knew that. He also knew he didn't want to get me into trouble.

"Fine, you win." He said. I beamed at him, and he looked down at my hands, still placed on his chest. I dropped them quickly, a small blush coming to my cheeks. I turned around so he wouldn't see.

Thankfully, the music started up then, and I thanked Leviathan for the excellent timing. I breathed deeply before turning back to Vincent.

"That's my cue." I told him. He nodded once, and we left the room together.

"How do I look by the way?" I asked. I knew he wouldn't lie.

"...Stunning."

-x-

Oh. My. God.

My eyes widened when I took in all the people stood in rows. All staring at _me_! Holy crap! I felt a strong hand on my shoulder, and looked over to find it was Vincent's, guiding me over to where Godo waited to give me away. I took my father's arm as we reached him, and smiled at Vincent, who smiled slightly back and went to take his place in the third row, where the rest of my Avalanche friends all stood smiling. The Turks were in the row behind them. Even _Cid_ was smiling proudly at me...I'd have to tease him about that later. Marlene picked up the back of my dress off the floor, and Tifa and Elena walked behind me in time with the music. I looked forward to see Kai waiting at the altar, also smiling. Suddenly though, I struggled to smile back. I looked back to Vincent, who was watching me closely. I hoped my smile didn't look _too_ fake.

When I reached Kai, he indicated with a nod of his head to look behind him, and there I saw Denzel. He looked like such a cutie in his little tuxedo, and holding the cushion on which the two rings were placed as though his life depended on it. He must have been told that it was _very _important he mustn't loose them. Bless him. I smiled at him widely, and he (very carefully, so as not to disturb the rings) gave me a thumbs up.

I concentrated on tuning out the minister as he began talking, and instead concentrated on my breathing. _Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in..._

"If anyone knows of any lawful impediment to why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

There was a long pause.

I swallowed loudly. If I didn't want to go through with this, now was the time to say so. _Forever _hold your peace? Forever was an awfully long time...

'_Get a grip Yuffie!' _Obviously not forever! However, my intuition was telling me I should do something, and my intuition was not stupid. Warily, I looked at Vincent. He was gazing at me intently, silently asking if I wanted him to say anything.

I shook my head ever so slightly, and he closed his eyes.

The minister continued speaking. I tuned him out again, thinking about Vincent. He'd looked so...defeated just then. I wondered why. I made a mental note to ask him later. I peeked back at him, but he wasn't looking at me anymore; as his eyes were still closed, his face now expressionless.

"I do." Kai's voice rang out clearly. Oh holy shit, it was my turn. _Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale..._

"-until death do you part?" asked the minister.

"_Say I do!" _I thought, _"Just say I do!" _but there felt like was a lump in my throat. I paused for so long that murmurs began to snake through the crowd. Kai was looking at me questioningly, though I couldn't meet his eyes.

"Yuffie?" The minister asked quietly.

I looked back at Vincent again, who had opened his eyes curiously and blessed me with the gaze of those gorgeous red irises. My heart ached suddenly.

I turned back to the minster, knowing what I had to do.

"I do." I said quietly. Not many people heard me, but it was enough.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Kai smiled and leaned in, and I closed my eyes as he pressed his lips against mine gently. The crowd cheered and wolf whistled. He pulled back and smiled at me, and I forced a smile back.

* * *

***Gasp!* Dun dun dun! Yuffie is now married to Kai, poor Vinnie. Whatcha thinks gonna happen huh? I will warn you now, it's nothing good. Or maybe it is...depending on how you look at it. Anyways, I'm currently in the process of writing the next chapter now, though I've only just started, so don't expect a lightning quick update. I _might_ write faster if you'd be so kind as to review...hint hint!**

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	5. The Shortest Honeymoon In History

**Hola. Erm, okay...I think I tried to squeeze a bit too much stuff in this chapter. Meh.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII. How many times do I have to tell you?!**

* * *

It was safe to say the after party was around _fifty times _better than the wedding itself. After Kai had taken the rings from Denzel with a wink and a "thank you for keeping them so safe for us", I put the white gold band on the third finger of his left hand, and he took my hand and did the same. My ring was quite simple, a white gold band with one single, glittering-and rather large-diamond set in it.

Everyone then showered myself and Kai with hugs and congratulations. Time had seemingly decided to be kind to me, and the reception passed in a blur. Then the after party started in the next room quite smoothly. And before I knew it I was asked to dance by Kai, as the bride and groom always performed the first dance. I smiled, a little dazed, and agreed as I got up and followed him to the centre of the ballroom. I didn't really pay attention to what music we were dancing to, only concentrating on the steps of the traditional Wutain dance. Eventually though, people got up and joined in, and I was able to be saved by Vincent.

"May I cut in?" he asked Kai as soon as the first song had ended. He nodded and they both bowed politely to each other, before Kai went to sit down and Vinnie took my left hand in his human one, and put his claw arm on my waist. The music started, and it turned out to be for a Waltz. 'How Vincent-ish.' I thought.

"Thanks Vince." I said gratefully. He nodded once as we danced.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something." I said, "When the minister was all like, 'speak now or forever hold your peace', and I shook my head at you, something about your expression bothered me." I told him. He looked down at our feet. "You looked to me, a little defeated." That was the only way I could describe the expression on his face. "Why?" I asked simply.

I long silence settled between us. I hoped Vincent wasn't going to dodge the question and not respond, but I wasn't going to be the one to break the silence first (like I usually was).

"...I, don't think he's good enough for you, Yuffie." He said finally. My eyes widened in surprise.

"I think that...you deserve so much better," he continued, "That you deserve to be happy. I believe he doesn't deserve _you_. But that is just my opinion."

Time had decided to be mean again, and as the song ended, another man asked if he could dance with me. Vincent was about to let me go when I held onto his hand tighter and firmly stated "No" to whoever it was that asked, I didn't even look at him. I was staring at Vincent all the while, and we started dancing again, Vincent keeping me for another song.

"Continuing our conversation," I started, "I happen to value your opinion quite highly. And I think you're right."

He frowned. "Then why-"

"Because I don't have a choice." I told him, and he scowled, "I had to marry Kai, for my father, and for my country."

He sighed. "That doesn't seem very fair." He commented.

I laughed. "Being a princess isn't all what it's cracked up to be." I grinned.

We danced in silence for the rest of the song, and when it ended we went to sit down so no one else could ask me to dance with them. I had a couple of drinks before it was time to throw the bouquet, so the alcohol made me feel considerably better. I laughed as all the girls got behind me, jockeying for position. I turned around and threw the bouquet, and heard a lot of screaming and cheering. I turned back to find it had been caught by Elena at the very back of the group, who was blushing furiously and looking everywhere but at Tsung. I giggled and winked at her before yelling over at Tsung: "Oi Turk! Take the hint, its fate!"

Elena glared at me.

The party was a lot of fun after that. There was lots of music, dancing, food and drink, and laughter. I didn't interact with Kai much; he was too busy socialising with our advisors and the people of the council. Unfortunately, I didn't see Vincent for the rest of the night either. Despite asking around, no one had seen him after we had sat down. I occupied myself by talking to my other friends, such as Cloud, Reeve and Cid for example.

"So chocobo head, while we're on the topic of weddings, when are you gonna pop the question to Tifa?" I asked.

Cloud choked a little on the drink he was gulping down, nearly resulting in his premature suffocation. I laughed loudly as Barret thumped him on the back.

"Cloud and Tifa are getting married?!" Marlene's face lit up.

"They sure are Marlene," I told her, all the while grinning at Cloud, "very soon!"

"A-actually Marlene-"

"Do I get to be a bridesmaid again? Can I? Oh, please Cloud! Please, _please?!"_

Cloud couldn't bring himself to answer, and instead settled for giving me a death glare. Cloud and Tifa weren't officially _together-_together. I laughed again, now he'd _have _to propose to Tifa soon. Ah, the wonders of emotional blackmail.

"Reeve, how's the WRO doing? I haven't been around in a while." I smiled.

"Quite well thank you Yuffie," he replied, "though I think things would get done a little quicker if we had you back with us." He hinted.

"Aw, ya miss me? I wish I could help out but..." I looked over at Kai, who was shaking hands with some old guy, probably from Wutai's royal council.

"I understand Yuffie, don't worry about it." Reeve said. I smiled at him.

"Oh yeah," I giggled, turning in my seat to look at Cid, "What was up with you old man? Seeing me walk down the aisle, I could have sworn I saw a proud tear in your eye."

He scowled at me. "Whatcha talking about Brat?"

"Honestly, you were almost blubbering 'cos little old me–baby of the group-is now all grown up!"

"Why you little...!" he made a swipe with his arm at me to mess up my hair, and I laughed and dodged it.

"No way was I crying Brat!"

"It's okay Cid, one else is gonna find out you cried..." I said in a mock soothing tone. He turned red, and the table erupted with laughter.

"I'll get you back for this." Cid said, sliding down further into his seat.

"Yuffie?" I turned to find Kai smiling at me, "It's time to go."

Oh, the honeymoon! I almost forgot. _Right..._I could feel my cheeks getting hot as I blushed deep red and the guests made whistling noises. I cleared my throat and got up. "Yeah, I'll meet you outside, just gonna say bye to everyone."

He nodded and left. I turned to my friends and hugged each of them in turn, telling them I'd come visit soon. Cid didn't accept my hug however, he was still mad at me. Teehee. I looked around for Vincent one last time, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. I sighed sadly and left the room, waving to everyone as I went.

I was just about to step into the main hallway when I heard Kai's voice.

"I don't think it's any of your business, Yuffie is mine_._"

I hid behind a large pillar and stuck my head around it. Vincent had ceased the front of Kai's shirt and pushed him up against the wall roughly. Kai winced in pain. One of his hands grasped Vincent's claw (which had shredded a small part of his shirt), while the other clutched his side.

"You think you _own _her?! Like she's some sort of _possession?!_" Woah, Vincent was _angry._ He hardly _ever _got mad with _anyone_ (Hojo being a huge exception), Kai had obviously got under his skin.

"She's _my_ wife. If you didn't want that to happen you should have just said so." Kai smirked, mocking him.

"Believe me, I was going to. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted it was for the good of Wutai. The only reason she married you is for the sake of her country."

"Maybe so, but she still married me nonetheless. And if you don't mind, we are about to go on our honeymoon."

"On the contrary, I _do _mind." Vincent's voice became cold and deadly, so much so that it raised goose bumps on my arms, "Now I'm going to let this sham of a marriage slide, because Yuffie wants it that way. But I'm giving you fair warning, if you mistreat her, or force her to do anythingshe doesn't want to...you don't even want to _imagine_ what I'll do to you."

Kai laughed at him. "Don't worry; I won't do anything she doesn't _want_ me to."

Vincent's eyes blazed with anger and his jaw clenched. He clenched his fist tighter, digging the fingertips of his claw into Kai's skin, drawing blood. A low hiss of pain escaped Kai's lips, so I decided to intervene before my best friend murdered my husband.

"Vincent! Let him go!" I said, stepping out from behind the pillar and walking towards them. Vincent turned his head to look at me and then released Kai, stepping back from him. They both glared at each other (Vinnie winning).

"Kai, go wait outside for me, I'm coming." I said. He nodded stiffly and left out of the main doors.

I looked at Vincent, who was glaring after Kai as though he wished he could shoot him. I shook my head in disapproval.

"Vinnie, that wasn't necessary." I told him, raising my eyebrows. He looked at me with a much calmer expression on his face. "You don't have to protect me; I can take care of myself."

"Understandable."

I rolled my eyes. "So where were you for the rest of my after party?"

"...Walking."

A one word answer of course. "Mm-hm. Very informative response there Vince."

"Naturally." He smiled a little at me. I laughed in delight.

"Oh wow, an almost joke _and _a smile? Are you drunk?"

He made a noise of amusement in his throat. My jaw dropped open.

"_Ohmygod that was practically a laugh!" _I said excitedly, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Vincent Valentine?!"

He didn't respond, though his tiny smile grew a little wider. I stared wide eyed at him.

"Princess Yuffie, Prince Kai said he's ready to go when you are." A maid informed me.

"Tell him I'll be another minute." I told her. She bowed and left us alone.

"Sorry Vinnie, I gotta go."

The smile had vanished from his face, "How long will you be gone?"

"To be honest I'm not sure. I don't even know where we're going...some secluded mansion Kai's cousin owns. Near Kalm I think."

Vincent nodded. "You know you can call me...if you need anything."

I smirked. "Yes Mr. Overprotective. I won't be gone too long." I hugged him, "Bye Vince."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hugged me back gently, "Goodbye Yuffie."

-x-

"Here we are." Kai said, turning the car onto a spacious driveway outside a large, modern looking mansion. I "ohh'ed" appreciatively and grabbed some luggage from the backseat.

"I'll get the stuff from the trunk." Kai said.

When he'd opened the door and set down the suitcases, he took my luggage off me. I looked around the hallway. The walls were decorated with dark browns and reds, and the furniture was made of a dark, polished wood. Rather fancy, I thought.

"You go ahead and look around; I'll sort out the baggage." Kai said, giving me a warm smile. I smiled back and left him to it. I walked around the mansion slowly, taking my time and turning on all the lights. The kitchen was fully stocked with everything I could ever want, and the main living room was decorated with warm and inviting colours. I decided I wouldn't mind living in a house like this sometime in the future.

I made myself comfortable on the sofa and then glanced at the grandfather clock. It was quarter past nine. I bit my lip nervously. Ahem, I knew perfectly well what newlywed couples did on their honeymoon...at night, just the two of them, with king sized beds upstairs...eek! I knew I was expected to provide at least one heir for the throne, but was I expected to do that _tonight?! _Eww! NO! My cheeks flamed at the thought. Breathe Yuffie, just breathe. Okay, I'd just have to calmly explain to Kai that I wasn't ready yet. Although I highly doubt I'd _ever_ be ready, not with _him_ anyway...

"Yuffie?" I jumped a little at Kai's voice, jerking me out of my embarrassing thoughts.

"H-hey." I stammered a little. He came and sat next to me on the sofa and turned on the T.V. Phew, a distraction. Thank god for television. I relaxed slowly.

After a few minutes though, Kai began to shift closer to me. At first I pretended to be oblivious, but that sorta went out the window when he suddenly leaned over and kissed me. My eyes widened in surprise, and I tried to pull away, but he just fell back onto the sofa with me. Instead I placed my hands on his chest and shoved, successfully pushing him away. I rushed to get all the words out, "Look I know we're supposed to provide an heir and everything but honestly I'm just not ready yet..." I trailed off weakly. He blinked, and I saw something change in his eyes.

"Then let's get outta here."

-x-

I sat in the passenger's seat of Kai's car silently. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I didn't dare ask. He looked really peeved off. The clock currently read 10.50.

The car suddenly stopped.

"Get out." Kai told me. I blinked. He didn't look like he was joking.

"Excuse me? Where are we?"

"Outskirts of Kalm." He replied.

"But-"

"Get out!" he said more forcefully. I recoiled at his voice. "We might as well separate for now."

I stared at him. So I might as well go off and do my own thing if I wasn't going to have sex with him?! "Fine!" I said angrily, stepping out of the car and slamming the door as hard as I could. He drove away without a backward glance. Oh my god, I can't _believe _him! I made a loud noise of frustration.

Okay Yuffie, so you are currently stranded just outside Kalm with no money or supplies. Fantastic. I sighed and began walking in the direction the little road sign pointed to, 'Kalm, 1 mile.'

When I'd walked a little way there were no more streetlamps, and it became hard to see through the dark. I made a mental note to break Kai's nose the next time I saw him. It was then I heard laughter. 'Oh thank you!' I thought, 'civilisation!' However, when I'd walked further on and was able to see the source of the loud laughter, it turned out to be two drunken guys. Laughing their heads off at their bad jokes and stumbling all over the place. And they were in the direction I wanted to go in. 'No problem, I can take these guys easy peasy.' I thought to myself. But then two more men showed up out of the darkness. Oh crap. I reached behind me to get my Conformer, only for my hand to curl around air and find out _I didn't have it. _Oh shit.

"Look guys." one man said, pointing at me.

"Hey there sugar," another said, "you look like you're lost."

I didn't think I could take all four of them without my Conformer, so I turned around, heading back the way I came even though there was nothing but wilderness.

"Hey, come back!" one of them shouted. I ignored him. Then, as fate would have it, two _more _men emerged from the way I was going, forcing me to stop still. Oh _fuck! _Okay, _now _I was a little scared...

Suddenly, I felt strong hands curl around my wrists from behind, and I screamed as I tried to throw them off. They laughed and surrounded me. I managed to wrench one arm free and elbowed the guy behind me in the ribs, and he loosened his grip on my other wrist. Two guys in front made a grab for me, so in retaliation I kneed one in the stomach and punched the other in the face, and pushed them out of my way. Then I ran like Meteor was going to hit any second. I didn't hear any sound of pursuing footsteps behind me, but I didn't stop running until I was sure I'd completely lost them.

When I finally did stop running, I keeled over, gasping for breath. I was shaking and my knee's felt all wobbly, so I sank to the ground, sitting on the sidewalk. I tried to take deep breaths. '_Calm Yuffie, be calm. The key is calmness.' _My vision was blurry, and I realised it was because of tears in my eyes. That was _shit _scary. Okay...what to do...right, I remember. I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open, then scrolled through my contacts, dialling the number of my closest friend.

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	6. Perfect, In My Eyes

**Hey! I apologise for the delay, but the chapter is up now. And for being so patient with me, I'm gonna put up the next one along with it. :) Oh, and the first part of this is Vincent's Pov, which I don't do so well. This _might _be inconsistent considering this is _supposed _to be all from Yuffie's Pov...but oh well.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

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_Vincent's POV_

I was currently sat in a comfortable armchair inside my apartment in Edge. I couldn't sleep. Not that I _needed _it necessarily, like 'normal' humans did. Although Chaos had returned to the planet after the Omega incident, the rest of my demons still remained. Therefore, I was still immortal, and still only needed a couple of hours of sleep a night.

I sighed quietly. Thinking...of Yuffie. I prayed to Leviathan for her wellbeing. Kai seemed to me like a controlling, possessive husband. How could Godo give the go ahead for someone like him to marry someone like her? Kai didn't _love _her. He couldn't possibly care much for Yuffie if he constantly neglected her over his work. If he hurt her, in any way, shape or form...

Apparently, Yuffie thought I was being overprotective, but I begged to differ. Yuffie deserved better than a cocky, arrogant man like him. Yuffie deserved the world. She was so innocent, and beautiful, and sweet, and just so _perfect._ She deserved everything, because she was so _good_.

I sighed again. I hadn't realised I loved Yuffie until it was too late, or at least _almost _too late. I'd had the feeling for a while, but I just took it as wanting to look out for my friend and I'd brushed it off. However, the feeling only grew stronger over time, whether she was with me or not. I tried to ignore it, and didn't take the time to analyse what it really was. That was a huge mistake.

I had realised I'd fallen in _love_ with Yuffie Kisaragi in the middle of her wedding. How is that for timing? I wanted to kick myself for not recognising the feeling sooner. However, my hope was restored when I'd found an excuse for the wedding to be called off, in the form of Kai and his unruly behaviour towards Yuffie. I had _tried _to get her to see my point of view, but she insisted she had to marry him for the good of her country. That was another thing about Yuffie, she was self sacrificing. I admired that. I highly doubted Kaisaw any of the amazing qualities that I saw in her. Like I'd told her before, he didn't deserve her.

That said, I couldn't say I was deserving of Yuffie either. I used to be a Turk; I'd murdered hundreds of innocent people because Shinra wanted it so. I hadn't even stopped and questioned the morality of my orders. There was far too much blood on my hands for me to be able to touch someone as pure as her. Not even going into the fact that I have demons inside my head. If I _really _lost my temper, I could transform and hurt anyone...even Yuffie. I winced slightly at the thought. No, I wasn't deserving of her. A tainted, corrupt excuse for a human like myself wasn't even worthy to be inher presence. It was a true miracle in itself I could even call her my friend.

Then my cell phone rang. I glanced at the clock, it was 11.22pm. I frowned, wondering who'd be calling so late...

I picked it up and took a look at the caller I.D. My heart gave a small jolt when I saw it was Yuffie.

And to think I used to never answer her calls…

"Yuffie? Is everything alright?"

"V-Vincent?" My eyes widened at the sound of her voice. She sounded so scared, and as though she was trying not to cry.

"Yuffie, what's wrong?" I asked urgently.

"Can you c-come and get me? Please?"

"Of course," I answered, standing up, "Where are you?"

"A few miles north of Kalm, I think." She said, before she took a deep, steadying breath.

"What happened?" I asked as I walked towards the door.

"Kai just...left me here."

I stopped dead. _Kai..._I will _murder _him.

Yuffie began to cry, sobbing through the phone. That set my legs in motion again.

"I tried walking to Kalm but there were these drunken men and they grabbed me and they..."

I stopped moving again. Oh no. Please no. It suddenly became hard for me to breathe. They _didn't..._

"I managed to get away before they did anything..." Yuffie continued. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just stay where you are Yuffie, I'm coming for you."

"Okay. Please hurry." I could hear the tears in her voice.

"I will." I promised.

-x-

_Yuffie's POV_

I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. Vincent was coming. I was gonna be okay. Just keep breathing Yuffie.

I heard a loud cawing noise, and I jumped, standing up quickly. Then I realised it was just a harmless bird. I laughed at myself shakily and sat back down. 'Vinnie's coming for me.' I kept chanting in my head over and over, trying to calm myself.

I heard a twig snap somewhere in the forest behind me and I jumped up again. I scanned the area, seeing nothing. Gawd, I was jumpy. I took another deep breath and sat down again on the side of the road. I put my face in my hands, and realised my cheeks were wet. I angrily wiped the tears away. The great ninja Yuffie Kisaragi does not _cry. _It's a sign of weakness!

Okay…maybe I'm allowed to cry on certain occasions, I'll allow myself that. And this I classed as a _scary _situation.

And so I began to cry. Well, what else is a frightened, stranded girl to do? I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs, rested my forehead on my knees, and cried.

After a while, I heard a car approaching, and I looked up to see a black people carrier that I recognised as Tifa's; she used it to drive the kids to and from school. The car pulled right up to me before Vincent stepped out, looking down at me with a hint of concern in his eyes.

"Yuffie…" he murmured quietly, his voice laced with worry.

Well crap, I must look a sorry state. But Leviathan was I happy to see him. I sprung up and hugged him tightly, my sobs increasing in volume.

"Vinnie, I was so scared…" I managed to speak in between my sobs.

"Shh." he said, trying to soothe me. He wrapped his arms around me hesitantly, "It's okay. You're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you."

My sobs slowly subsided at the sound of his voice. I'd always loved it. Although it lacked emotion ninety nine point nine percent of the time, it was deep and rich and all…velvety. I enjoyed listening to it, it was a shame he didn't talk much.

"Come on, I'm sure you don't want to stay here any longer." Vincent said, leading me to the passenger's side of the car and opening the door for me. I smiled a little as I got in, he was such a gentleman. Vinnie closed the door gently after me and walked round to the drivers' side, getting in the car himself. Honestly, I think our Vinnie's adapted to the modern world quite well over the years, considering he doesn't really use technology all that much. But here he was, starting the car and then turning up the heating to full blast with a touch of the key pad.

Vincent drove in silence. Hey, he does everything in silence. But I felt comfortable with it, which very rarely happens. I didn't feel like talking much anyway, as I was feeling rather tired. It had been one hell of a day. I let my eyes close, resting them for just a second. The car was so warm, and the seat was so comfy…

-x-

The next thing my conscious mind registered was the softness of pure white, linen sheets. And how nice and fresh they smelled, kinda floral.

I opened my eyes. I was in a large bed, and a really comfortable one at that. The room I was in was dark, curtains drawn, though some sunlight was peeking through the corners.

How did I get here?

I thought back, trying to remember why I was in this room, in this bed. I remembered Vinnie had picked me up after Kai had left me stranded in the outskirts of Kalm…

Oh, my, god. I'd almost got _raped! _And I bet Kai didn't even care! I have the crappiest, most callous husband ever. When I saw him, I was gonna kick is ass into next Tuesday.

Erm, now where am I again? I had no clue. My surrounding's didn't seem familiar at all. I frowned and threw the covers off me, before getting out of bed and stretching. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I walked towards the first door I came to. Turned out to be a bathroom, all squeaky clean and shiny. I closed that door and tried the second one, yawning as I went.

When I opened the door, the mouth-watering scent of bacon assaulted my nostrils, and by stomach gave an expectant growl. Vinnie was at the stove, fully dressed and in the process of putting some bacon, eggs and toast on two plates. He looked up as I walked in.

"Good morning Yuffie." he said, putting the plates on a large, well polished table before sitting down in front of one.

"Aw! Vinnie, you made me breakfast! That's so sweet!" I chirped, parking my butt on the chair in front of the other plate. He didn't say anything, and instead began eating. I tucked in hungrily; I _loved _bacon. If someone said I had to turn vegetarian in order to save the planet, I don't think I could do it.

I took the time to examine my surroundings as I ate. All of the furniture was made of the same dark, highly polished wood. Except the couch, which was a blood red colour, with matching cushions, and matching curtains. Typical Vincent style home, I thought. Oh! This must be Vinnie's apartment! Right…I knew that. Well, I didn't until now; I'd never been inside Vincent's apartment before.

"Nice place Vinnie." I complimented. He nodded.

"It is quite comfortable." he commented nonchalantly. I smiled.

"That bed was really comfy, even better than _my _bed, which has Wutainese silk sheets by the way."

He didn't reply, so I concentrated on finishing my breakfast, which wasn't that difficult; it was all gone within five minutes.

"Thanks Vinnie, that was delish." I said happily when I'd cleared the plate.

"You're welcome." he said, before finishing his last piece of toast and standing up, taking both his and my plate. He put them both in the sink and began running the hot water.

"Erm, Vinnie?" he turned to look at me. "I also want to thank you, you know, for coming to my rescue last night." I said sheepishly.

"It was no trouble, Yuffie." he said, turning back to the sink. I frowned a little. It sounded to me like he was trying to be off-hand, but there was something underneath…no one who didn't know him _really _well would have picked it up. But I did. Maybe I'd call him on it later…

"Vinnie?"

He turned to look at me again.

"I really don't wanna go back to Wutai for a little while…" I trailed off feebly, wondering if I should even bother to ask. Vincent cocked his head to the side curiously, and I smiled. He was getting better at acting out these little displays of emotion, I thought. "Well, I was wondering, if it's not too much trouble…if I could stay here with you, just for a little while?" I asked hopefully.

He surprised me by consenting almost immediately.

"Of course Yuffie," he said quietly, "Although you'll need to get some of your things from Tifa's…"

"Oh yeah! I forgot I had some clothes and stuff over there! Thanks Vinnie, you're the best!" I exclaimed, jumping up, "So, I'm gonna mosey on over there and get some of my things…"

Vincent smiled a little at the word 'mosey'. "All right. But I won't be here when you get back. Reeve requires my assistance at the WRO. Here." he said, swiping a key from a shelf and handing it to me, "A key to the apartment." he explained when I looked at him blankly. For the second time that morning, Vinnie surprised me. He actually trusted me with this? Wow. I giggled.

"Gee, thanks Vinnie, I feel honoured."

-x-

When I walked into the Seventh Heaven, I saw Cloud and Tifa, standing _really _close together. I cleared my throat to announce my presence, and they jumped apart quickly, both blushing a little. I grinned.

"Yuffie!" Tifa exclaimed, walking around from behind the bar to hug me. I hugged her back and then waved at Cloud, who nodded at me. "It's great to see you." Tifa continued, "I was so worried when Vincent said he needed to borrow my car to pick you up. What happened? I thought you were on your honeymoon?" she phrased the last statement as a question. I snorted softly.

"Yeah, that didn't go as planned." I said cynically. "Actually, I came here to clear out my wardrobe, I'm gonna stay with Vinnie for a bit."

Tifa looked surprised. "If _Vincent _is letting you stay with him, it must have been bad."

I smiled. "Not a life or death situation, but still pretty scary."

"Tell me all about it." Tifa said kindly, going into mother hen mode and sitting me down on a barstool. Cloud looked a little concerned too, and came to stand next to Tifa.

"Well, I don't think I could get through reliving those distressing, traumatic events without an alcoholic drink…" I smiled sweetly at Tifa, and she rolled her eyes a little before pouring me a glass of rum and coke (one of my favourites), complete with ice and a piece of lemon.

"Thanks Teef." I said, sipping it slowly. Tifa watched me patiently, not pressing me for any info. I felt a little uncomfortable telling her and Cloud. Maybe I was _actually_ traumatised.

"Yuffie?" Cloud asked gently. Wow, chocobo head's sounding all compassionate.

"Honestly, it's not that big of a deal guys." I said, trying to assure them I was perfectly okay. They gave each other a meaningful look. I sighed.

"Okay, I'm gonna get this over with and explain everything in one go." I said, taking a deep breath, "Basically, Kai took me to this really posh mansion for our honeymoon and made a move on me but I rejected him and he went all…strange," I tried to find a word that reasonably described the weird change in him, "and then he told me we should go out and I agreed 'cos I was kinda scared of him and then he just kicked me outta the car in the middle of nowhere-"

Tifa gasped, her mouth dropping open.

"Oh, it gets better," I said bitterly, "and don't interrupt me!" I took another deep breath, "So he left me stranded a few miles north of Kalm and I tried walking to the city to get some help but there were these random drunken men and-"

"Oh no!" Tifa said, covering her mouth in horror. Clouds eyes were wide.

"Don't worry guys," I reassured, "I kicked their butts before they could lay a greasy finger on me." Not _strictly_ true but… "So then I got away and rang up Vinnie and he came to pick me up. The end." I finished my dramatic story and took a big gulp of my drink. Tifa looked appalled, and Cloud looked slightly angry.

"Calm down chocobo head," I teased, "Everything's cool."

He raised an eyebrow, "He just left you _stranded, _anything could have happened…" he trailed off, looking like he didn't even want to _think _about what could have happened.

"I'm fine Cloud." I told him, giving a wide smile. It seemed to appease him.

"Are you sure?" Tifa asked caringly, "Is there anything you want to talk about? Anything you need?"

"I'm good, though another drink would be nice." Tifa smiled and took my empty glass, pouring me another drink. Obviously she mentally agreed with my theory that alcohol was needed as a form of therapy.

"So how do you feel about Kai?" Tifa asked, handing me the glass.

I sighed heavily. Cloud could maybe sense that there was even a small possibility of tears, so him being male, he got the hell outta there.

"I have some deliveries to do. I'll be back before dinner." he stated, smiling at Tifa and then me. "See you round Yuffie."

I waved at him as he exited the bar, and waited before the door had swung shut before turning back to Tifa with an approving look.

"He's certainly improved angst wise." I said to her conversationally, "Good work Teefs."

She chuckled. "He's much better psychologically now that he understands the death of Aerith wasn't his fault…" she trailed of with a slight sadness in her voice at the mention of Aerith, and we both shared a mournful look for our fallen Ancient. "He's around a lot more now." she continued optimistically.

I grinned. "That's good. So are you two finally together?"

Tifa blushed and I giggled. "No. We're not." she said, turning away from me to put away some glasses.

I rolled my eyes. Ah well, it was only a matter of time. When chocobo head stopped being so _blind. _

"Anyway, what's the relationship status with you and Kai?" she asked, moving the relationship spotlight from her to me.

"Facebook wise, my status would say 'married to Kai Iitaka, and there's nothing I can do about it.'"

Tifa smiled sympathetically as she finished putting away the clean glasses. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Yuffie Iitaka sounds good."

"Maybe, but Yuffie Kisaragi sounds _right, _ya know? I was allowed to keep that name anyway; apparently I didn't have to change it." I smiled happily. "However, I think Tifa Strife has a certain ring to it."

"Yuffie!" Tifa protested half heartedly. I laughed, before downing the rest of my drink and standing up.

"Anyways, I gotta get my stuff packed." I said, walking past her and up the stairs.

It didn't take all that long to fill up a largish suitcase with my clothes, materia (mostly stolen, nyuk nyuk), and other essential possessions such as my toothbrush, hairbrush etc. I also took my diary, and some pictures of my family and friends with me. It took a while to drag the suitcase down the stairs, but I managed it. I said goodbye to Tifa, who smiled in farewell as she was busy serving customers their alcoholic beverages.

-x-

When I got back to Vincent's apartment, my arms ached and I was out of breath from pulling along that stupid suitcase. I rested for a second outside the door.

"Is it really necessary for you to be _that _heavy?" I asked it irritably. Not that I made a habit of talking to inanimate objects. I kicked it with a small amount of force, only succeeding in creating a sharp pain in my toe.

"Ow!" I yelped, hopping on the spot.

"Yuffie?"

I spun round on one foot, very nearly falling over. Honestly, I was the clumsiest ninja in existence. Maybe I was the _only _clumsy ninja in existence. That was probable. But that's not the most important thing right now.

The most important thing right now was the fact that I had turned to face my husband. I froze.

"Kai…what are you doing here?"

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**Like? Don't like? Tell me what you think please. :) The next chapter will have more Vinnie in it!**

**Thanks for reading!**

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	7. On A Mission

**Ahem. I'm not gonna say much. Go ahead and read, hope you enjoy. :)**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or it's characters. But I do own Kai...not sure if that's a good thing, 'cos he's evil.**

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_Yuffie__'__s POV_

My immediate reaction to seeing my husband was fear. But that feeling quickly went away, leaving a warmth in my tummy when I looked in his eyes; those unusual gold tinted irises were warm and gentle.

"I came to apologise." Kai said. Then the warm feeling was replaced with anger. He _should _apologise. I glared at him.

"Don't even bother." I told him scathingly, turning back to my suitcase and picking it up.

"Let me help you." he said, stepping forward and taking the suitcase off me before I had a chance to decline. I turned away from him and fished out the key from my back pocket before unlocking the door and stepping inside.

Kai followed me in and set the suitcase down in the hallway. I stood and watched him with my arms crossed irately. He looked a little uncomfortable at my glare.

"Look Yuffie, I really am sorry," Kai said, his eyes burning with the sincerity of the apology, "please, forgive me."

It was hard to stay mad at him when he was looking at me like that, but I tried to anyway. I walked away from him into the living room, and he followed after me. When he tried to catch my hand to turn me around, I jerked my arm away, looking at him disgustedly. I raised my voice and made my tone acidic, "I can't _believe _you even have the nerve to show your face! You just left me _stranded _Kai! And when I tried to make my own way to Kalm…I almost got _raped. _And it was your fault!"

Kai's eyes were wide, "You-you're kidding right?"

"Why would I lie about something like that?!" I said bitingly.

Kai's mouth dropped open in shock, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

"You should be!"

"Please Yuffie, I'm _begging_ you to forgive me. I will get down on my knees and _grovel_ if you want me to." said Kai, putting his hands in front of him as though praying.

I struggled not to smile. Kai saw this and jumped at it.

"I'll do anything to make it up to you, anything you want." he promised, "Life time supply of ice cream? All the materia your heart could ever desire? Oh, I know, cliff diving! You've always wanted to try that right?"

I grinned. Perhaps Kai knew me better than I'd thought. Then he stepped forward, closing the gap between us, and he brushed the back of my hands lightly with his finger tips.

"I am truly sorry." he said, his voice deep and compelling, "Whatever you want, it's yours. Just name it."

I giggled. I was forgiving him far too quickly, I know. But it was too hard to stay mad at him…especially when he was offering materia.

"What I want…" I said thoughtfully, reaching up and wrapping my arms around his neck. He looked pleased at the contact, "is for that to _never _happen again."

His expression turned serious and he nodded, snaking his arms around my waist. I didn't mind, he _was _my husband after all. "Of course. I promise, it will never happen again." he said. I smiled at him and he grinned back. "Not to a wife as _stunning _as yourself."

I couldn't help but smile wider. Flattery gets you everywhere, my mother used to say. "This doesn't get you off the hook." I told him mock sternly. "Think precious jewels. Think _mountains _of materia."

He chuckled. Then he gazed into my eyes, and my tummy felt all fluttery. Kai smiled softly and began to lean towards me, and I didn't stop him. Instead I let my eyes slide closed as his lips met mine. He kissed me gently, and it felt like my insides were warming up, so I felt hot all over.

Someone cleared their throat quietly to announce we weren't alone. I jumped away from Kai quickly, and turned to look at the source of the sound. It was Vincent.

Oh Leviathan! Of _all _the people to walk in on us! That said (or rather thought), this _was _his apartment.

"Sorry to interrupt," Vincent said in a monotone, but he was glaring his death glare at Kai, "but Reeve would like to see you Yuffie."

I nodded, not trusting my voice, since my stomach still had angry butterflies zooming around in there.

"So you're staying here?" Kai asked me, trying his best to ignore Vincent, "You're not coming back to Wutai?"

I cleared my throat before answering, "Not for a while. I need some time away." _'Time away from you.' _I mentally added. Why the _hell _had I let him kiss me?!

Kai nodded. "I understand. I have to go back to Wutai tomorrow. I've bought a flat a few blocks away from the Seventh Heaven, for business." he explained, "I'll be there if you need me."

I smiled at him a little and nodded, "Bye then."

"Bye for now." he said, smiling at me before he walked out of the room, Vincent glaring at him as he went.

Only when I heard the door close did I speak, "Vince! Why were you trying to make him burst into flames with your eyes?"

He looked at me frostily. "…You may have forgiven him for what he did, but I have not. He was lucky to leave with all his limbs still attached."

Gawd, violent much? I didn't want to be mad at Vinnie, he'd come to my rescue after all. But really, it wasn't any of his business.

"I don't think it concerns you." I said stonily.

"It does where your wellbeing is at risk, I won't allow you to be hurt."

Oh, wow…Vinnie really cared. He was just looking out for me.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

"You have nothing to apologise for." he replied, "But we should go, Reeve wishes to speak with you."

I nodded and walked out with him.

When we got to the WRO headquarters, it was safe to say I was welcomed back with open arms, though I'd never really left the WRO officially. I was greeted enthusiastically by almost every soldier that happened to pass by. So I was in high spirits by the time myself and Vincent stepped into Reeve's office.

"Hiya Reeve!" I said excitedly, back to my usual happy-go-lucky self.

"Good afternoon Yuffie." he replied, looking up from his paperwork, "How are you?"

"Good thanks." I said as I sat on a chair in front of his desk. Vincent came and sat next to me.

"I need my most skilful ninja to go on a mission for me." Reeve said, smiling.

Ah, you see? Flattery gets you everywhere.

"That would be me." I grinned, "What do ya need Reeve?"

"I need you and Vincent to head to Midgar. We've received reports of suspicious activity in the area, and we think it's more remnants."

I blinked in surprise. "More of them causing trouble?"

"It would seem so." Vincent chipped in. He obviously knew more about it than I did.

Reeve nodded. "We need you to locate their base and download their files to our system, so we can find out what they're up to, and what they're planning."

I stood up and saluted playfully, "Yes sir."

Reeve laughed. "Good. I'd prefer if you set off straight away, there's no time to waste."

"Okie dokie! Come on Vinnie, let's sort out some supplies!"

Vincent nodded and stood up, following after me. I was grinning as I practically skipped down the corridor and Vincent calmly walked beside me.

"Oh yeah…Vinnie?"

"Yes Yuffie?"

"Are you mad at me?" I asked.

He looked puzzled, "Why?"

"Are you?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Good. No reason."

He blinked. "I answered your question, so you have to answer mine. What made you think I was mad at you?"

"…It was just…" I didn't know how to phrase it. "You looked really angry when you saw me and Kai together."

He looked away from me hastily, instead looking straight ahead.

"Were you mad 'cos I forgave him?"

He didn't answer.

"Vinnie! I've answered your question, so you have to answer mine!" I said indignantly.

He sighed. "…I suppose I was. He doesn't deserve your forgiveness." He looked at me again, "But I my anger wasn't directed towards you Yuffie. I couldn't be angry with you."

I smiled gently, but it turned into a smirk when I remembered something.

"Not even if I told you you're missing your fire materia?"

He frowned, checking Cerberus for the materia he'd had attached to it, and discovering it wasn't there. He sighed and looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. But true to his statement, he didn't look mad.

I laughed and handed the red orb back to him.

-x-

Midgar had really improved since the Meteor incident. It was almost completely rebuilt now, though there were still some shady, run down areas. Vincent suggested we look there first, and I'd agreed. He also said it was most likely the remnants would be most active at night, which was only logical. _If _there were any remnants at all. Thus, myself and Vinnie were walking around the shady parts of town at night.

"What exactly are we looking for Vinnie? I don't think we're going to find the remnants base _inside _Midgar. We're not even sure there actually is a remnant HQ."

"We're looking for clues. Something, or someone, to lead us there. If it even exists."

"Ah, so we're trying to find shady looking guy with glowing eyes hanging around in an alleyway somewhere, and he'll lead us to their base with sufficient threatening from you. Right, got it."

Vincent smiled a little. "That sums it up quite well. If we manage to find anything."

"Course we will! We've never failed yet." I said confidently. It was true, me and Vinnie had never failed to complete a mission. I can boast the fact that we have a one hundred percent success rate. Mostly on my part of course, but Vinnie helps a little.

"True." he agreed, "We do make a good team."

"Hell yeah! We're the best! Hey, do you think these guys will have any decent materia? 'Cos I'm going home if they haven't."

Vincent looked at me curiously. "Don't you mean you're going back to _my _apartment?"

I blinked, taken aback. "Uh, yeah, that's what I meant. Just a slip of the tongue."

Vincent had a sort of self satisfied expression on his face. I was about to ask him why when he suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me into the nearest alleyway, pressing me against the wall.

"What are you-?"

"Shh." He drew Cerberus silently. I reached for my Conformer, preparing to throw it at any bad guys that may decide to attack us.

It was then I heard footsteps, but because there were no streetlamps, it was too dark for me to see. So instead I followed Vincent's mako enhanced eyes to see the outline of a small group of people walking past us, about four of them, each dressed in similar looking, hooded black leather garments. They didn't see us, and kept on walking down the alley.

"Should we follow them?" I whispered, "They're a pretty accurate description of the shady looking guys you're supposed to be threatening."

Vincent smirked a little, then silently walked to the end of the alleyway, me trailing behind. He looked around the corner before stepping out and following the group from a safe distance.

They didn't have a clue they were being stalked by an almost vampire (Vince kept saying he wasn't a vampire, but the coffin speaks for itself. Figuratively of course) and an almost insane ninja (often I was described as too happy to be mentally healthy). In fact, they seemed more or less oblivious to everything around them. They just kept walking, down one alleyway after another. I tried to memorise all the twists and turns, but soon got lost. Vinnie was probably doing a better job at it than I was.

Eventually, when we were on the outskirts of Midgar, they went inside an old, abandoned warehouse. I glanced at Vincent- wondering whether we should follow after them -and he nodded, stealthily slipping through the iron door with Cerberus in hand. I followed him almost as silently.

It wasn't anything special. Looked like it had been abandoned for years; dust coated every surface, the furniture was broken, and I could swear I saw a rat scurry across the floorboards as soon as I stepped in.

"Come on, keep quiet." Vincent whispered, walking across the room towards some stairs.

"Duh." I said under my breath.

It turned out the stairs led down to another largish room, just as ruined as the one above it. However _this _room had an old fashioned elevator that I was pretty sure led to some top secret underground base, that wouldn't be so top secret when I got to it.

Myself and Vincent had both started towards the elevator, when we were ambushed.

I felt strong hands grab me from behind, and I yelped, swinging my Conformer backwards and successfully hitting someone. Their grip on me loosened and I was able to get free. I turned around to discover it was one of the guys we'd been following, except he now had a deep, large gash across his shoulder. His electric blue irises blazed in the darkness.

So the other three had to be pretty close by.

I was right. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one remnant on the ground with a bullet wound or three in his chest, and Vincent was preoccupied with another black clothed figure.

The remnant that had tried to grab me pulled out a gun and fired twice. I turned my Conformer in my hand to deflect the bullets away, before throwing it with skilful precision, flicking my wrist just right so it would travel back to me in an arc. It struck him across the chest, creating an extremely deep gash he wouldn't be able to recover from, and he fell. I caught my Conformer expertly before turning to the enemy I knew would be behind me, just in time to deflect the attack he attempted with his sword. I stumbled back a few steps at the force of the blow; he was really strong. Before I'd recovered, the remnant struck another blow, lower this time, and inflicted a large scratch just below my ribcage, cutting into my shirt. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second because of the pain; I'd never been a fan of it. When I opened them again, the remnant was nowhere to be seen. But suddenly something metal struck my Conformer, making me drop it, and I felt cold steel pressed against my neck.

"Don't move." a deep voice commanded in my ear, and I stood still. The remnant slowly turned me around, to face Vincent, who was pointing Cerberus in our direction.

"Let her go." Vincent said, his voice low and deadly.

"I don't think so. One wrong move, and I'll slit her throat."

He pressed the blade harder against my neck for emphasis and made a small incision, drawing blood. I sucked in a shallow breath between my teeth.

"If you want your companion to live, you'll talk. Who do you work for?"

Okay, it was _not _wise to tell him that. I made my eyes wide, trying to tell Vincent not to say anything, as I couldn't shake my head even an inch. When Vincent stayed silent, the remnant took the sword from my neck, and instead sliced into my shoulder and across my collar bone. I cried out in pain, and Vincent stepped towards me.

"Stay where you are." the remnant ordered, pressing the sword against my throat again. Vincent stopped.

"Who do you work for?" the remnant repeated.

"The World Regenesis Organisation." Vincent answered immediately.

Ah crap, he was gonna tell him everything! Stupid!

"Of course…you always stick your noses where they don't belong." the remnant said resentfully.

I glanced around, looking for something to get me outta this. My Conformer was near my feet, just a little to my right. I shifted my feet an inch closer to it, and the remnant pressed his sword against my neck more forcefully.

"I told you not to move!"

"Yeah, about that…" I said, swinging my leg out, barely moving my upper body and hurriedly getting the toe of my boot under my Conformer. In the blink of an eye, I managed to toss it behind me using my foot, catching the remnants' shins. He yelped and moved his sword from my neck, and I ducked.

There was one loud bang. One shot was all Vinnie needed. I heard a thump as the remnant hit the dusty ground, joining his three fallen comrades.

Vincent hurriedly walked over to me and helped me stand up.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.

No. The deep cut across my shoulder and collar bone was _killing _me. The gash along my stomach stung too. But I couldn't use my cure materia without cleaning the wounds first. I mean, this warehouse was filthy, and I had no idea where that remnants sword had been (eew!). But we had no first aid, so I'd have to wait.

"I'm fine." I said, smiling at him. He didn't look convinced. "Come on, lets get this done." I said, picking up my Conformer and walking to the elevator before pulling up the iron gate and stepping inside. Vincent followed warily and pulled it back down behind us. I pressed the 'down' button on the keypad, and the elevator started moving with a jerk.

"I'm not entirely sure this is safe…" I commented. I had a _small _fear of elevators, nothing major.

"Are you afraid of elevators?" Vincent asked interestedly.

"No!" I protested, "I just…got stuck in one once. Ever since then I sometimes have this nightmare, where I'm alone in an elevator and the cable snaps, and I zoom towards my gory, squishy death."

Vincent looked thoughtful for a second. "Squishy death?" he asked, picking out the funniest part of my confession in order to make me laugh.

It worked, I giggled. "Well, yeah. But it'd be a whole lot _more _squishy if there were a group of people in the elevator, instead of just me."

Vincent wrinkled his nose ever so slightly, looking like he didn't want to think about it.

Aw! That expression was so cute.

"You seem fine in the WRO's elevators." he said.

"That's because those elevators don't start with a jolt." I said, just as we reached our destination and the elevator gave another almighty lurch. I grabbed on to the bar around the sides and gave a small squeak of discomfort. "Nor end with one." I said.

Vincent was smirking as he lifted up the gate. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Bear in mind I have motion sickness, and could well puke up all over your shiny metal boots."

That stopped him smirking. He gestured for me to go first, and I smiled slightly as I stepped out of the elevator.

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**Lols. I liked writing this chapter. But what did you think of it? And please point out any spelling/grammar mistakes for me that I may have missed. Thank you!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	8. Undetectable Is My Middle Name

**Sorry peoples, slow update. My bad, the internet wasn't working. :( I almost died of bordom. Just what did our ancestors do with no internet? **

**But, to apologise, the next chapter is being posted up with this one. So, I'll stop typing this message now, 'cos you have a fair bit of reading to do.**

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I looked down the long corridor as I stepped out of that wretched elevator. I couldn't see anyone, but there were probably more remnants lurking about somewhere. It was safe to say we'd found their HQ, and it looked much cleaner than the hovel of a warehouse above it.

"Where to Vinnie?" I asked. His sense of direction was better than mine, and there were many doors and staircases that led off the corridor.

"My best guess would be the most secure room, probably in the deepest part of the base."

"Right, so we're looking for the deepest, darkest, creepiest room in the heart of the building." I translated into Yuffie speak. "So…down the nearest staircase?" I suggested.

"…I suppose. But we need to be very cautious; we have no idea how many remnants there are down here."

I nodded. "Dying in the middle of a mission would have a seriously bad impact on our success rate."

Vincent smiled a little. "We should be fine as long as we remain undetected."

Undetected huh? Well, that's what ninja's do best. Undetectable is my middle name.

"In that case Vinnie…" I said sweetly, he was immediately suspicious of my tone and narrowed his eyes a little.

"What, Yuffie?" he asked, looking at me distrustfully.

I widened my eyes in innocence. "What? You trust me right?"

"…To an extent."

I made an offended noise in my throat. "Thanks. I'll remember that next time you need your ass saving."

He smirked slightly.

"I was just gonna suggest the vents." I said slowly, pointing towards the silver grate above our heads.

"No." he said.

"What? Why? Do you _want_ to get us spotted?"

He gave me a doubtful look.

"For once in your life Vinnie, travel via air vent. These remnants are pretty tough, and I don't want to repeat _that _experience." I said, pointing to the gash below my ribcage.

He looked from my stomach to the vent, still unsure.

"Come on, give me a leg up; ladies always so first." I said, using my Conformer to hack out the four bolts that secured the grate in front of the opening, then I strapped the weapon to my back. He sighed, and then lifted me up into the vent once I'd finished.

I heard Vincent heave himself up into the vent behind me, and I started crawling. It was dark, but my eyes soon adjusted. Actually, the vent wasn't that small. Definitely bigger than your average air vent, and yes, I'd know.

"I can't believe I let you convince me to do this." I heard him mutter as we crawled forward.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, stop complaining vampy."

I heard a quiet growl of annoyance from him. He hated when I called him that.

"Well, at least no remnants will see us." I said, concentrating on trying to see what was in front of me. "Now, we're supposed to be going _down, _so I need to find…ah, here we go." I smiled when I found a rectangular hole in the bottom of the vent we were crawling through.

"Yuffie, I don't think-"

"Don't worry Vince, I use air vents when on missions all the time." I said, lowering myself into the hole. It wasn't a vertical drop, but not quite a diagonal one either. This should be fun!

"Just think of it like a long, dark slide." I told him, laughing before I let myself go, sliding quickly down the vent/slide and picking up speed quickly. I giggled in delight when it curved to the right, then to the left.

I was disappointed when it finally became horizontal again, and I slid a few more feet before coming to a stop. I was the _tiniest _bit nauseated because of my motion sickness (curse it!), but nothing I couldn't handle.

I sat up the best I could in the space available and tried to get on my hands and knees to crawl again. I managed to turn over onto my stomach, but it proved quite difficult, even for me, the pixie. It was going to be hard for me to turn around to be able to crawl the right way. And to make things worse, Vincent chose that very moment when I was _almost _on my hands and knees to come sliding through the vent and crashing into me, knocking me back down again. On top of him in fact.

Eek! Okay, a little awkward…

"…I apologise Yuffie." he said. It was too dark for me to see his expression-even though his voice sounded _very_ close-but he sounded somewhat amused. Probably 'cos his mako enhanced eyes could see the blush that was flooding my cheeks.

"Uh, no worries Vinnie." I said, detangling my body from his. Oh holy Leviathan, _why do you do this to me?!_

I finally managed to get on my hands and knees, only problem was I couldn't crawl with Vincent underneath me. I was facing the wrong way anyway.

I was trying to think of a way to get out of this awkward position as quickly as possible when I felt Vincent's arm wind around my waist. I gasped quietly, but he provided no explanation as he pressed me to him and sat up. He shifted our legs, and suddenly I was on my back, and _he _was on top of _me. _

Could my face get any redder? …Nope, impossible. I must be an awfully attractive tomato red colour. I held my breath, hoping to slow my heartbeat to a reasonable rhythm, and stop the blood pooling to my cheeks.

My eyes had adjusted now, and I could see his face, it was _very _close to mine. He was smirking ever so slightly. Then I felt his hands rest on my waist. Ah! _Surely_ the remnants could hear my heart, it was beating so violently. I didn't doubt all of Midgar could hear it. Vincent's hands lingered on my skin for a few, (almost painful) heartbeats. His smirk grew a little, before he gripped my waist a little tighter and slid me out from under him.

I released the breath I'd been holding when he let go of me. Okay Yuf, breathe deeply.

I turned onto my stomach and raised myself onto my hands and knees, finally facing the way we were supposed to be crawling.

Well, that was…pleasantly awkward. Does that make sense? Ugh! Stop thinking Yuffie! I've got a feeling I won't be able to look Vincent in the eye for a while…actually, I'll bet Vinnie loved every second. It sure seemed like it to me.

We crawled on, not speaking. Eventually, I saw a small amount of light.

"Aha! I see the light at the end of the tunnel Vinnie!" I exclaimed, crawling a little faster. When I reached the grate, I peeped out into a large, empty room with many computers and other high tech looking stuff.

"I think we found the right room." I said quietly. With difficulty, I un-strapped my Conformer from my back and carefully sliced the grate out of my way, before doing a neat little forward flip and landing on the balls of my feet.

Vincent followed after me-not bothering to show off with a flip like I did-and landing on his feet much quieter than myself. Stupid graceful vampire.

"Erm, so…how do we download the files to the WRO's computer system again?" I asked.

He didn't answer, and instead sat down on one of those computer chairs I love so much 'cos they spin around. I decided to sit down on one myself.

"Yeah, I'll leave all the complicated stuff to you Vince." I said, using my foot to kick away from the computers and skate across the room in my chair.

He sighed and got to work. I sat and watched him uninterestedly, skating back and forth. After a few tries, Vinnie cracked the password and opened up a load of random files.

"We don't have to _read _those do we?" I asked incredulously.

"No Yuffie." he replied, plugging a little silver memory stick thingy into the computer and then putting a disk into it too. I yawned as he did so.

"Good." I said, relieved, "I think I'd fall asleep."

"Probably." Vincent said, continuing to type away.

I sat quietly for a few moments, skating in between all the computers and seeing how many times I could spin in my chair with one push, _without _getting sick.

"See Vinnie, by using the vents, we did save a lot of time." I said, wanting to fill the quiet, "I mean, the door's locked and look, you need a pass code to open it. Not to mention we would've run into _loads_ of remnants probably. So I think we should use the vents again to get out, but it's a lot harder to scale up them than slide down them…" I trailed of, wondering if we should try our luck and use the stairs. Or use the vents which would be much more tiresome. And awkward perhaps.

"We're using the stairs." Vincent deadpanned. I smiled, not saying anything.

"Have you finished yet?" I asked after a few more minutes of Vincent typing.

"Almost. Why don't you try to unlock the door?" he suggested.

I skated across to the door and stood up when I'd reached it. Okay, this should be easy for a ninja. I'm sure I've done something like this before. Erm…right. I looked closely at the key pad. Oh! I know! Whichever buttons were the most worn, it would have be a combination of those numbers! You're a genius Yuffie! Okay then, lets see…numbers 0, 3, 7 and 9 were more faded than the rest. Wait…if I get it wrong, won't some really loud alarm go off and everything will lockdown and then the remnants will know there are intruders and they'll find out our location and gang up on us and kill us! Huh.

"Vinnie, do I only have one try?" I asked him, "Will an alarm go of if I get it wrong?"

"I doubt it Yuffie." he said, not looking up from his work.

"Okay, if I cause a lockdown and we get captured, it's your fault."

"Fair enough." he sounded slightly amused.

I smiled and turned back to the key pad. Okay, ideally, I need to get it in one go. Just in case it _would _give away our location if I got it wrong.

I entered 0-7-9-3 slowly, holding my breath. I low pitched buzzing noise sounded twice along with a small message on the screen; 'access denied'. Aw crap. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the too-loud siren to pierce the quiet and alert the remnants. Nothing happened. I opened one eye cautiously, then the other. We were safe. Phew!

I punched in 3-9-7-0. Access denied. Erm…9-7-3-0. Access denied. 0-3-7-9? Access denied. Psh. Typical. Could have had a more interesting message, like…'You must be a terribly forgetful employee…' or 'HA HA! You've forgotten the code! Dolt!' Would be more fun to look at.

Okay…what codes haven't I tried? Erm…let me think. Oh, I know! Let's try 7-9-0-3!

'Access granted'.

I blinked in surprise. I hadn't _actually _thought I'd be able to open it. Normally Vinnie does this kinda stuff.

The door slid open with a 'whooshing' sound.

"OH YEAH! Who's the best? Me! I rock!" I said loudly, turning to Vincent with a huge grin on my face. "I did it Vinnie! I'm so proud of myself! Uh, not like I haven't done it _millions_ of times before, opening a door is easy peasy for a ninja…"

He turned to look at me and smiled. "Well done Yuffie." he praised. My grin got wider.

"Aw shucks, it was nothing." I said.

"Let's go." he said, gathering up the silver memory stick and the disk and walking past me.

"Hey! Wait for me!" I said, following after him huffily.

It was so strange. We didn't meet any remnants _at all. _It couldn't just be those five we'd fought before, not with a HQ this big. There were plenty of random rooms filled with all sorts of stuff. Some with desks and computers, others looked like training rooms. And whenever we walked past a lab with loads of test tubes filled with freaky looking substances, Vincent glared at them as though they'd offended him personally. Damn straight, he has every right to glare.

Eventually, we found our way back to the elevator, and got out of the warehouse with no trouble, strangely enough. It was just me that was slowing us down. The wounds I had sustained stung and throbbed, but I trudged on through the streets of Midgar nonetheless, even when the world started spinning. I closed my eyes, and forgot how to open them again, and I felt myself falling forward.

"Yuffie!" Strong arms shot out and caught me, and I opened my eyes.

"'S okay Vince. I'm good." I blinked a couple of times and shook my head back and forth, trying to clear the dizziness.

"No, you're not." he said, and I felt myself being picked up bridal style.

"Put me down this instant Vincent Valentine! I'm alright!" I tried to sound forceful, but my voice failed me.

"You've lost too much blood Yuffie, I'm sorry for not noticing sooner." he sounded frustrated with himself.

I gave a blasé little snort. "Don't blame yourself just 'cos those remnants managed to wound me. S'not like I'm gonna die."

"If I were you, I'd be more concerned about me. Have you looked yourself over lately?"

I frowned and looked down, to discover my top was stained with blood. Well holy crap, maybe I should be worried…

Nah.

"I'll be fine." I said apathetically, smiling. I heard Vincent sigh.

"We'll find a hotel and stay in Midgar for tonight, while you regain your strength." he said.

"That's not necessary, I'm okay!" I tried to convince him, "And Reeve's stingy when it comes to the WRO's budget anyway so…"

"I'm sure he won't mind."

I frowned disapprovingly, though I didn't think Reeve would _really _mind. But since when when did Vincent put the ninja 'brat' (e.g. lil' ol' me), first? He was a regular workaholic. "Aw, Vinnie, I didn't know you cared." I teased.

He said nothing, but he looked down at me with soft eyes that gave me a warm feeling inside. I smiled at him.

I wish _Kai _cared more about me than his work...

I leaned my head against Vincent's chest and sighed. I just couldn't decide if I liked or disliked Kai...I decided to decide later. "…In that case, can we pick a fancy five star one?"

"I don't think Reeve would approve of that."

I made a noise of disappointment. And I was so looking forward to scoffing those little chocolates they leave on the pillows...

-x-

Vincent eventually put me down after much persuasion. But he still half carried me to our hotel room; I was so worn out, though I claimed I was fine.

"I can walk by myself now, really Vinnie." I tried to pull away from his side, but he gripped me tighter around the waist.

"Yuffie, you've lost a copious amount of blood, surely you must be exhausted."

Damn. His deep, lulling voice wasn't helping me stay awake. I was already swaying on my feet. My eyes drooped, and I struggled to keep them open.

"I thought so." I heard him murmur as he unlocked the door to our room.

"Smart ass." I said under my breath. He smirked slightly before sitting me down on a smallish bed.

"Stay." he said. I frowned.

"I'm not a pet." I told him, but my voice came out much weaker than I'd intended. He looked at me worriedly.

"Yuffie," he said softly, "stay awake."

"Sure Vinnie." I meant to sound bright and energetic, but I think it came out as a faint mumble. His expression grew more concerned and he went to fetch a first aid kit from the cupboard so he could heal me. Gawd, since when did my eye lids get so heavy? It'd be okay if I just rested my eyes for a second right? Sure it would Yuffie, as long as you don't fall asleep. I let them slide closed and began to automatically fall backwards onto the bed in slow motion.

"Yuffie." I felt an arm around my shoulders, pulling me upright. I managed to pry my eyelids open, but everything was fuzzy around the edges. "I know you're tired, but you need to stay conscious until I've healed you." A low, soothing voice said. Ah, that could only be Vincent.

"You have such a wonderful voice Vinnie, it's so…calming." I said, letting my eyes slip shut again with a small smile on my face. "I really like listening to it, you should talk more."

I may be dog tired, but what in Leviathan's name made me blurt that out?

"…I promise to talk more if you keep your eyes open until I say so." he said. Hmm, I wasn't sure if that was a good deal. Really, I'd rather sleep…

I felt cool fingertips brush along my collar bone, and my eyes shot open. Vincent wasn't wearing his glove, and he was gently cleaning my cut with a damp cloth and using some clear, strong smelling liquid. I shivered, and not because I was cold. He met my eyes curiously, before one corner of his mouth turned up slightly.

"You don't seem so tired anymore." he commented, concentrating on the cut again. I didn't say anything.

When he'd finished with that cut, he started mopping up the one below my ribcage. His bare skin brushed mine again, and I gasped as my abdominal muscles tightened automatically. Vincent smirked.

"You're ticklish?" he asked.

"Just a little." I said softly. He smiled.

"I'll remember that." I heard him mutter. I pouted a little, before yawning. I was just _so _tired.

When my cuts were clean Vincent put away all the first aid stuff, before casting cure on me and reducing the wounds to faint, pink lines. I felt myself being picked up, and then lowered back down again, the warm duvet being thrown over me. "You can sleep now." Vincent whispered. I smiled in relief, _finally _I could get some rest. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow, quite literally.

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**Hmm. Problem's with this chapter? Go ahead, tell me. 'Cos I'm sure there are many. Anyways, the next chapter is better than this one, in my opinion. So even if you thought this sucked, go read the next chapter.**

**xoxo**


	9. Let's Pretend Nothing Happened

**Okay. Hi. Now, in this story, Yuffie has a tiny phobia of elevators. Me, myself and I...are slightly scared of them. I have nightmares about them frequently. *Shiver* I also have arachnophobia. Honesty, I practically have a panic attack if a spider comes within ten feet of me. *Double shiver* So yeah, frightening stuff. Hence the nightmare I decided to put into this chapter. Please read on. :) Oh, I should warn you, this chapter is filled with caramel centered cuteness. Maybe a little sickly sweet. Just so you know.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII. *Wistful sigh***

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I had the strangest dream. I didn't expect to dream at all, 'cos I was so tired, so it caught me off guard. Usually, my dreams are vaguely familiar, like I've dreamed them before. I get a lot of recurring dreams, mostly the scary ones. But it wasn't that scary until the end. Actually, I didn't know I was dreaming at first, it looked so real, so my mind didn't register the fact that in reality I was curled up safely in bed. Basically, I dreamed I was kissing Vincent. Which was weird enough, thank you…and I've _never had that dream before! _I swear! Ahem…so there we are, erm, kissing, when Kai suddenly appears and rips me away from him. Vincent tries to grab my hand but then me and Kai are in this deep pool of black/blue water and he looks really sad, and he disappears and leaves me alone. I get out of the pool, but there's nothing but this pitch black void that I wander around in for a while, calling for all my friends. No one comes to help me, but then I see this bright light above my head and I jump and try to grab it. So then this light transports me to this floating rock with lots of flowers growing on it, and I realise I'm in space. I look over the side of this rock and see the planet. I'm smiling now, 'cos this is beyond awesome. But then the rock crumbles underneath my feet and I start falling and feeling _horribly_ sick. Thankfully out if nowhere Kai catches me, and hugs me tight. But he suddenly pushes me into an elevator and now I'm _really _scared because I've been here many times before. The doors close before I can jump out and there's no keypad to press the emergency stop button. I start hyperventilating as the elevator starts moving up slowly. I call for help, even though I know it's useless. The elevator stops with a lurch and I curl up in the corner and start crying. I hear the cables squeal and I brace myself as I know what's coming. The elevator shudders and then the cables snap and I start to fall, getting faster and faster. I scream but I can't hear myself over the ringing in my ears. I hear the crash the elevator makes when it impacts with the ground and I see the bottom of the elevator splinter as everything goes red and scraps of sharp metal fly everywhere…

I woke up and sat bolt upright. I realised my cheeks were wet and I was gasping for breath. I looked around wildly, and discovered I wasn't in fact falling to my messy death. I was in a bedroom, in a smallish single bed. I was okay. I took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, before exhaling. Apparently, my motion sickness was evident even in my dreams; I felt terribly nauseous. I breathed deeply for a few seconds, but tears would not stop oozing from my eyes, my heart was still beating madly, and whenever I let my eyelids shut it felt like I would fall.

I looked over at the digital clock at the side of the bed. It read 3.39am. Wonderful. Now I wasn't going to get any more sleep for the rest of the night.

Unless…

I got out of bed cautiously, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and testing the ground was secure with my tiptoes before I stood up. I walked over to the door opposite the bed, the one I knew would lead to the other bedroom. I paused at the door for a second, steeling myself, before I turned the doorknob slowly and opened the door as quietly as I could. I felt like a little kid again, sneaking into my mum's room and crawling into bed with her whenever I'd had a bad dream.

I padded over to the bed Vincent was sleeping in, preparing for hell for waking him up.

"Vinnie?" I said softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

His claw hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, same time as his eyes shot open, like I expected.

"Yuffie," he said quietly as he let go of my arm, "What's wrong?"

Huh, I didn't expect that. I thought he'd glare at me and tell me to get out. He can get really cranky, our Vinnie. Instead he sat up and gazed at me questioningly. It was then I realised he was shirtless. Oh my gawd, Vinnie is _shirtless_. I never thought I'd see the day. I felt my cheeks heat up, and he smirked slightly.

"You're-"

"I know! I'm turning red, I can feel it! You don't have to tell me!"

His smirk grew. I took a deep breath. Come on now Yuffie, concentrate on the most important matter now. Everyone says you've got a one track mind, so lets stick to it huh? Stop staring!

He waited patiently while I shifted my weight from one foot to the other nervously. When I was sure my blush had receded, I blurted out what I wanted to ask.

"I had a really bad nightmare." I explained quickly, "Erm…can I sleep with you?"

Vincent blinked in surprise. I bit my lip. "Please?" I asked timidly.

He stared at me for a few more seconds, before shifting over a little for me. I sighed in relief as I slid into the warm, single bed. A little awkward, yes. I had to shuffle really close to him to make sure I wouldn't fall out, not that I minded though. I turned onto my side, facing him. Vincent waited until I'd got comfortable before he spoke.

"Do you want to tell me about your nightmare?" he asked gently. I smiled, but shook my head.

"It was just this stupid dream about an elevator that I have some nights." I said, closing my eyes. I felt much safer now I was with Vincent.

"I see." he said, "Elevators…you must be particularly frightened of them." he mused.

I opened my eyes to look at him challengingly. "Not _particularly_, it's just…" I didn't really want to talk about all the other things my nightmare consisted of. Even though it didn't _start _as a nightmare…but there was no way on Gaia I was telling him about the beginning of my dream. Hell no!

I began blushing a little again. Vincent gave me a probing look and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you blushing?" he asked sort of sarcastically.

I felt my cheeks get hotter. Eek! What was worse, his proximity was not helping me get the kissing image out of my head.

"Uh, it's nothing." I closed my eyes quickly, "Go back to sleep."

I heard him make a noise of amusement in his throat. "Alright. I'll ask you when you least expect it."

I frowned, eyes still closed. "No, you won't. Don't _ever _ask." I said commandingly. He just chuckled. "I mean it Vinnie!"

"Yes Yuffie." he said, but he sounded patronizing to me. I sighed irritably.

"You're supposed to be comforting me Vince! I'm terribly distressed after that nightmare…" I said wryly.

I felt an arm snake around my shoulders, and I opened my eyes to see I was facing Vincent's chest. Oh, he was warm.

"Shh, it's okay." he soothed, "I won't let anything hurt you. Sleep."

I smiled and closed my eyes obediently. His arm was supporting my neck in a very comfortable way, and I fell asleep within seconds.

-x-

When I woke up, I didn't open my eyes straight away. To be honest I was still tired, and wanted to sleep some more. And I would have too, if it wasn't for someone's arm tightening around my waist.

I opened my eyes slowly. I was facing Vincent's neck, and my head was resting on his shoulder. It was his arm that was wrapped securely around my waist. He must still be asleep. I realised I was curved around his right side quite comfortably, with one of my legs wrapped around one of his. I didn't remember immediately why I was here, but really, I wasn't that bothered.

…Oh yeah. I came in here after my nightmare. I shuddered when I remembered that awful dream, and Vincent automatically shifted his hand to rest on my back. I smiled a little and snuggled closer to him. Well, it wasn't as if we'd ever be doing this again so…

I watched the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of Vincent's chest. I frowned at all the scars present there. Mostly Hojo's work, the prick. I traced along the barely visible, very pale white lines with my index finger, and felt Vincent shift suddenly, he was waking up. I let my hand drop, closed my eyes and tried to even my breathing out, pretending to be asleep.

Vincent didn't move for a few seconds, but then he surprised me by moving his hand to my waist and squeezing gently. I suppressed the urge to smile with difficulty. I felt the fingers of his claw hand rest on my head and begin to come through my hair.

"I know you're awake." Vincent whispered near my ear. I grinned, but didn't open my eyes.

"Yeah, you caught me." I said, nuzzling into his neck. "I'm not ready to wake up yet, so I'm gonna go back to sleep now 'kay?"

"…I'm afraid it's already nine am, and I told Reeve we'd be back by ten. So we need to get up."

I pouted. "What'd 'cha tell Reeve that for?"

"We need to report back as early as possible. If you were not injured, we could have already done the mission within a day."

"Well, sorry for almost getting sliced to pieces by a couple of remnants." I muttered sarcastically. He sighed quietly before gripping me tighter around my waist and sitting up with me still latched onto his side. I finally opened my eyes to narrow them at him.

"I'll tell you what, why don't you go and report back to Reeve, and I'll stay here and get up when I'm ready." I said, removing myself from his side and laying back down again.

"No Yuffie." he said patiently, "Get up."

I moaned and threw the duvet back over me. "It's too early! Just 'cos you only need a couple hours of sleep a night doesn't mean the rest of us do." I complained. "Actually Vinnie, I think you've slept longer than usual, haven't you?"

"Yes. Five hours."

"Only five?!" I said disbelievingly, my voice muffled because of the thick duvet covering me.

"Usually I survive off three." he said, sounding offhand. I heard the bed springs squeak a little as he got out of bed.

"You're _joking!_" I pulled down the covers to look at him, "I need like, ten at least!"

"That's because you are lazy." he said as he switched the cheap kettle on. I tried my best not to ogle at him, but it was very hard not to. Gawd, what is _wrong _with me?!

I made a fake offended noise and threw the covers back over me. "I'm not lazy! The bed I sleep in is possessive; it never wants me to leave in the morning."

I heard him chuckle. I smiled and closed my eyes, attempting to go back to sleep. But after a few minutes I felt Vincent tug gently on my dark hair, the only thing that was visible of me.

"Come on Yuffie, time to get out of bed." he whispered, uncovering my ear, "We need to go."

I gave a tiny moan and burrowed deeper under the duvet. I wasn't getting out of this bed for anybody. Not for Reeve…not even for Vincent. Not for a couple more hours anyway.

"Hmm…" I heard him sound quietly, "If you don't get out of bed, I'm going to get your materia and sell it."

I threw the covers half off me in a huff-preparing to tell him to get lost-to find Vincent's face inches from mine.

"You wouldn't dare." I said slowly. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked, moving to where my Conformer was sat innocently on the coffee table.

"Okay okay! I'm getting up! Don't even touch my materia!" I squealed, kicking the rest of the duvet off me with sudden energy. He smiled slightly.

"Good." he said returning to the now freshly boiled kettle.

Sucker. I _loved _winding people up, surely Vincent knew this by now. I crawled out of bed silently, making sure his back was turned, before grabbing my Conformer-and all the materia equipped to it-and slid back into bed with the weapon pressed against my chest. Being _very_ careful not to tear the sheets.

I knew he'd realised what I'd done when I heard him sigh. "Yuffie, surely you can't sleep with your Conformer in the bed."

I giggled.

I felt a hand suddenly reach under the duvet and I shrieked. My Conformer was ripped from my grasp and I heard it clatter to the ground. Vincent then threw the quilt off me forcefully and gave me a look. I smiled calmly.

"Hi Vinnie." I said, grinning at him.

His lips twitched, as though he was trying not to smile. "Hello Yuffie. Perhaps you will get out of bed now?"

I grinned wider and shook my head.

He smiled then. "You realise…" he spoke softly, almost dangerously, but I knew he was just playing along, "That if you don't get out of bed, I will be forced to physically remove you from this mattress."

Sounded good to me. He was still magnificently shirtless after all. "You can try." I told him, stretching my arms above my head and yawning.

His mouth formed a smirk slowly. I waited patiently.

With his inhuman speed, Vincent made a grab for my waist. Already anticipating this move, I rolled just in time, managing to hang on to the very edge of the bed. He went to push me off, and I sat up and rolled to the middle of the bed again. I laughed.

"C'mon Vinnie! You're getting slow!" I mocked playfully, grinning.

His smile grew wider. "Or you are getting faster." he said, before trying to grab me again. I pulled a handstand and flipped over to avoid his hands, landing on my feet near the pillow. I spun round, but I wasn't fast enough to dodge, and he wrapped one arm around my waist and took out my legs from under me with his other arm. So I was forced to grab his shoulders to make sure I wouldn't fall. He picked me up bridal style, but I wasn't giving up. I squirmed, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"You're out of bed, I win." he said. I stopped struggling.

"You cheated!" I said accusingly.

"And just how did I cheat?" he asked politely, adjusting me in his arms so he had a better grip.

"'Cos the White Rose of Wutai never loses! And she _never _gets out of bed before ten."

"Well, you'll just have to break that bad habit."

I mock glared at him. "I suppose I could make just one exception…even for a petty commoner like yourself."

He raised an eyebrow. I smiled.

"You have to swear on your secret materia stash that you won't get back into bed." Vincent said.

"How do you know about that?!" I asked in disbelief. Damn! I was _so sure _no one knew about it. I thought I'd been exceptionally sneaky when I'd stashed away all that stolen materia, mostly from materia stores or random civilians. And my not-so-secret stash was growing in number every day. In fact, I had two secret stashes. One at Tifa's, and one in the palace in Wutai. Not that I'm going to give away their _exact _location, 'cos then it wouldn't be a secret, would it?

"I know a lot about you Yuffie." he replied casually. "Swear on your materia stash."

I pouted. "No."

"Yuffie…" he warned. I giggled.

"What 'cha gonna do vampire?" I asked. He thought for a moment, before smiling.

"When all else fails…" he said quietly.

Okay, now I was a little worried.

Suddenly I was back on the bed again, and Vincent was _tickling me! _I squealed and tried to wriggle away, not being able to contain my laugher.

"No!" *gasp* *giggle* "Please Vinnie, stop!" *laugh* "Okay okay, I give!"

"You swear…" Vincent trailed off, waiting for me to finish the sentence. I waited a few seconds, catching my breath.

"I swear on my secret materia stash I'll get out of bed." I said, grinning.

"And…" he prompted. We were both laying on the small bed, facing each other.

"I swear I won't get back into bed when I get up."

Vincent nodded in approval. "Good."

I laughed; I was in such a good mood, despite not getting all that much sleep. Vincent smiled.

"I can't believe it! You find out I'm ticklish and you use it to your advantage!" I said reproachfully.

He just shrugged, smile still in place. I narrowed my eyes playfully. There was silence for a few seconds, and I closed my eyes. Neither of us seemed to want to move. For once, I was content with the silence. It was nice.

I opened my eyes slowly, to find Vincent staring at me. I wondered what was so fascinating, but I stared back. Which was one of the worst things I could have done, to make eye contact.

I found myself leaning forward slowly, closer to him. He leaned closer to me too, and we stopped when our faces were inches away from each other. My lips parted automatically, and I tilted my head just slightly, our lips getting closer. I closed my eyes when his lips were _millimetres_ away from mine…

A high pitched ringing sound unexpectedly intruded the quiet, and I pulled away from him quickly. Vincent got up and grabbed his cell phone, the culprit of the ringing noise, and answered it.

I sat up and took a deep breath. _Argh! _What the hell just happened?! I'd been so close to kissing him…oh my gawd Yuffie, you're _married! _What would Kai say? Oh god, I don't even want to think about it. I hid my face in my hands.

Okay, wait…nothing happened. Relax Yuffie, _nothing happened. _I mean, something a_lmost _happened, but almost doesn't count. Right?

"That was Reeve," Vincent said. I looked up. "We need to get back to the WRO as soon as possible."

"R-right." I stammered, mentally shaking myself.

"Yuffie, I-"

"Let's agree never to talk about this incident ever again." I interrupted. His gaze dropped to the floor and he nodded.

I got up and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. I was worried about how this would effect our friendship, and how the hell I would tell Kai…if I told him at all.

But what worried me the most was how much I really, really _wanted _to kiss Vincent.

-x-

Things became a little…tense between myself and Vincent after that. We couldn't look each other in the eye, and it became virtually impossible to have a casual conversation. So most of the time we stayed quiet on our way back to Edge. I _sincerely _hoped I hadn't completely ruined our friendship.

Even worse, what would I tell Kai? Should I tell him at all? Argh! Being married sucks! I much preferred when I was single.

"Yuffie?"

"Mm?" I looked up from the street we were walking along to reach the WRO's headquarters, though I didn't look at Vincent directly.

He hesitated for a second, staring at the ground. "…Nothing."

I frowned and cocked my head to the side inquisitively.

"Vinnie?"

"Yes?" he didn't look up from the ground. Gawd, I hated this.

"We're still friends, right?" I asked anxiously.

He didn't answer. My eyes widened fearfully. Was he going to say we couldn't be friends anymore? No!

"Vince! Look at me!" I pleaded, stopping in the middle of the street. Vincent stopped too and looked up. I met his eyes determinately.

"Listen, I know things between us are a little awkward." That was a bit of an understatement, "but…nothing happened. So there's no reason to feel embarrassed or guilty or whatever. Can't we just go back to how things were before?" I asked. That question may have been a little childish, but I so badly wanted back that easy friendship we had.

Vincent nodded. "You're right. Nothing happened. Of course we're still friends."

I smiled at him, but I had a feeling he was just telling me what I wanted to hear.

It's not that I think Vincent's not boyfriend material or anything. I'm aware of how many crazy fan girls he has. I mean, I've had a huge crush on him since I was sixteen, and my affection has only grown. He's my best friend, and I'm perfectly content with that. Well, he _was_ my best friend, and I _was _happy with that. Now though…I wish we could be more. It seemed like he liked me too. But I was married, to Kai. So it was not possible.

Vinnie said we were still friends though, thank Leviathan. I hugged him abruptly. I couldn't help it.

"Vinnie, no matter what, we'll always be friends right?"

I felt his arms encircle me gently. "…Yes. Always."

We'd always be friends…

* * *

**Right then, any comments? Anything at all? Any spelling mistakes or something? Anything you want to tell me, feel free. ****Originally, I didn't think of that _almost _kissing scene until I was actually writing, it just came to me. I thought it fitted in well...but what did you think?**

**Anyways, I'll try to update quicker. And I apologise, 'cos I _know _Vincent is OOC. But this is set after DOC remember, so in my head at least, he's much more social. **

**Thanks for reading! :)**

**xoxo**


	10. Rocky Relationships

**Hi people! Hope you are well. :) Here is the next chapter, not as long as others, but I'll make the next one a bit longer if you'd like.**

**Again, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

"So you didn't see any other remnants apart from those five you followed?"

"No Reeve. Just five." I said for the second time, already bored with this conversation, "I mean, we saw loads of rooms with high-tech stuff in 'em, and there were a few labs with all sorts of chemically freaky looking liquids…"

"Laboratories? Really?" he asked, seemingly surprised.

"Yes." Vincent said, speaking for the first time, "I assume any research gathered will be in their files." he gestured towards the disk and memory stick on Reeve's desk.

Reeve nodded. "Good work. I'll take a look at these. So, there's nothing else for you two to do…for now. You're free to go."

"Thank you, oh generous and kind boss man." I said, grinning. Reeve smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Goodbye Yuffie." he said, sitting down at his desk.

I walked out of Reeve's office with Vincent. I felt a bit more comfortable around him now, but still…

"Yuffie? Would you still like to stay at my apartment, or would you prefer to stay at Tifa's?"

I blinked in surprise. "I wanna stay with you, duh." I replied, as though it was the stupidest question in the world.

The corners of his mouth twitched up into an involuntary smile before he could stop it, and I smiled too. Then my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my back pocket and checked it. It was a text message, from Kai.

Unexpectedly, I felt a tiny bit guilty. Gawd, I was gonna have to tell him what _almost _happened. Key word there, 'almost'. It was no big deal. I'd just have to explain calmly and swiftly that everything was fine, and that me and Vincent are just _friends. _He'll understand.

I hope.

"Yuffie?" Vincent's voice jerked me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. Zoned out for a minute there." I had a habit of doing that at the most inconvenient times…

I clicked 'read' and the text message popped up. There was an address that was pretty close to the Seventh Heaven, along with the message _'Address to my temporary apartment. Come visit l8er, if ur not busy. x' _

Huh, well, at least I had a husband who understood text language. And a kiss on the end too, aren't I privileged? I was worried about seeing him, but I guess this is the perfect opportunity to tell him about the 'almost' incident.

Vincent waited patiently next to me. I smirked, thinking of a way to lighten my mood.

"Hey Vinnie, can you understand what this says?" I asked, holding up my phone so he could read the message. Teehee, this should be good.

He raised an eyebrow and scanned the message. I expected a small amount of confusion at the text language, but instead I was surprised to see anger flit across his features before his expression smoothed out quickly.

I didn't understand how the text message could have possibly offended him.

"…If you are referring to the L-8-E-R, it means later. And U-R means your or you are, though it's grammatically incorrect." he said nonchalantly.

I laughed.

"Way to go Vinnie! You understand text language! Who taught you?"

"You did." he replied, "Even though it took me a while to figure out your messages."

I grinned. "I bet you thought it was some top secret code at first right? That's what Godo thought whenever I sent him a text message. But, look at you, sixty years old and able to understand us young whippersnappers . I have taught you well."

He rolled his eyes.

We walked back to his apartment in silence. I was thinking about the exact words I could use to tell Kai about the 'almost' incident. I wonder if he'll be angry? Probably. Actually, there will most likely be a shouting match when I tell him…

"Yuffie?"

I looked up at Vincent, who was staring at me with something close to concern in his eyes. "Are you going to go see Kai?"

"Oh, yeah. Um…I might as well go now. Be back soon." I smiled and gave him a small but energetic wave.

He nodded his head once. I walked past the apartment building as he went inside. Okay, the address Kai gave me was only a few streets away from the Seventh Heaven. A ninja should be able to find it, easy!

-x-

Turned out, it wasn't that easy to find after all. Even for a ninja. And no, it wasn't my bad sense of direction this time! The flat Kai had purchased was a fair bit away from the bustling streets I was used to. You had to go down a couple of alleyways to get there, and I kept walking past the turn of I was supposed to go down.

Eventually though, I found it. And on the bright side, I had plenty of time to think through what I was going to say to him.

I sighed in apprehension before knocking on the door rather loudly. Kai answered almost immediately.

"Yuffie!" he smiled, looking pleased to see me, before pulling me into an unexpected hug. I was surprised, but hugged him back anyway.

"Hey," I greeted, "I guess you missed me."

He chuckled. "A bit." he admitted, pulling away and taking my hand instead. "Come in, I want to talk to you."

I swallowed nervously as Kai closed the door behind me.

'Yeah, I just wanted to tell you something too Kai,' I thought, 'I only almost kissed another guy earlier today, very nearly disgracing myself as the Princess of Wutai as well as my marriage to you. So yeah, no biggie.' I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you too."

"Oh?" he looked curious, "What about?"

"You first." I said. He smiled at me and led me over to a cream coloured loveseat, pulling me down by the hand to sit next to him.

"Well…your Father, and myself, want you to come back to Wutai."

I scrunched up my nose in distain and opened my mouth to retort, but Kai held up a hand to stop me.

"I know, I know. You don't want to, I told Godo that. But he wasn't having any of it so I promised I'd try to talk you into coming back. Honestly, you've been gone only a few days and Wutai is lost without you. However did they all manage when you were saving the planet?" he smiled at me affectionately, which made me feel a little guilty. I smiled back.

"Well, they adapted before, I'm sure they can do it again. Wutai will be fine. If the Royal Council really start stressing though, you might wanna threaten to fire them…works every time." I grinned evilly.

Kai laughed, then frowned. "Can we do that?"

I nodded. "Can and will, we rule the place right? Well, we're second in command to Godo, but it still counts."

"I'll remember that." he smirked and shook his head, before looking up and blasting me with what I was sure was full-force, gold tinted, pleading puppy-dog eyes, "Are you sure you don't want to come back? Isn't there anything I can do to convince you? A bribe maybe…materia?"

I pouted. Those puppy-dog eyes rivalled even mine. So darn cute! "No." I said firmly, "I'm staying with my friend Vincent for a while, and that is final."

I crossed my arms defensively, and Kai draped an arm around my shoulders. "I knew you wouldn't come back. Once you decide on something, you stick with it."

Maybe Kai knew me better than I thought…he was such a sweetheart. I smiled and leaned into him. "If I came back, poor Vinnie would be _so_ disappointed, I'm sure. Can't let him miss out on the opportunity to share his home with such a hot ninja."

I heard Kai make a non-comitial noise in his throat, and I looked up to see his expression. He looked thoughtful. "Vincent Valentine…the man who threatened me at our wedding, no?"

I bit my lip. "Yeah, you guys didn't get off to a good start. But Vinnie is an awesome guy, he really is. I'm sure you'll get along…in time." That last sentence, I didn't really believe.

Kai smiled wryly. "Huh. I don't think he likes me all that much, Yuffie. I wonder why that is?"

"Uh…" I didn't know what to say to that.

"_I _think he's just jealous." Kai said, pulling me onto his lap. Oh dear, mega guilt trip.

I smiled back with some difficulty. "Well yeah, come on, who wouldn't be? You have the hottest wife on Gaia."

Kai chuckled, seemingly agreeing. "You and Vincent seem especially close." he commented, beginning to rub my back gently.

Uh oh. We were getting closer to the subject I was supposed to bring up. Closer to telling Kai about the 'almost' incident. My heartbeat began to accelerate.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah we are." I responded, beginning to gnaw on my bottom lip out of nervous habit.

Kai smiled, oblivious to my uneasiness. "You're always paired with him for missions for the WRO aren't you?"

Oh well, here's my opening; "Yeah. We were sent on one yesterday actually."

He looked vaguely interested. "Doing what? Or aren't you allowed to tell me?"

"Just sorting out some troublesome remnants, nothing major." I avoided his eyes.

"And you got back today? That was quick." he sounded impressed.

"Me and Vinnie make a pretty awesome team. In fact, we would have been able to do it in under twenty four hours if I hadn't got hurt."

Kai frowned. "Are you okay now?" he asked, giving me a once over.

I smiled slightly. "Yeah, Vincent healed me, but we had to check into a hotel for the night so I could rest."

I saw something in his eyes that wasn't present a few seconds ago. Suspicion maybe? Well, it wouldn't be entirely misguided…

"In the same room? Did he need to look after you?" his tone had changed as well.

"Uh, well…" Here was my opportunity to tell him, but gawd, how bad does it sound? 'Well, we ended up sharing a bed because I crawled in with him, and in the morning…oh yeah, we almost kissed.' Eek!

Kai was looking at me expectantly. I sighed. "Basically, I had a really bad nightmare, so I asked if I could sleep with him and then in the morning, we almost kissed. I almost kissed him."

Kai blinked, then his hand froze on my back as he tensed up. "Excuse me?" he sounded choked.

I swallowed. "But, it wasn't like I cheated on you or anything! I mean, nothing happened! Yeah we shared a bed, but we didn't _do _anything. We _almost_ kissed." I stressed the word. "Nearly. That doesn't mean anything. Me and Vinnie are just good friends. It was just like, a knee-jerk reaction 'cos our faces were so close together…" Maybe you should stop talking now Yuffie, judging by the expression on your husbands face.

He pushed me off his lap. "A knee-jerk reaction?" he sounded incredulous. "You're married and you nearly kissed another man, and you call it a _knee-jerk reaction?_"

"Well that's what it was…"

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked loudly, standing up.

"_I wasn't. _I just did it without thought. He did too."

"So you're saying you kissed him?"

"No! _Almost!_" Important word that, makes a big difference. But…would I have kissed him, if his phone hadn't interrupted?

"I don't _believe_ you! We've been married for less than a _week, _and already you're going behind my back, seeing other men!"

My mouth dropped open in shock. I stood up defiantly. "_I _don't believe _you! _We've been married less than a week, and already you have _major _trust issues with me!"

"Well, that distrust isn't exactly false is it?"

"What are you trying to say? Nothing happened!"

"I'm not implying anything." Kai told me, though his sneer said otherwise, "And something quite obviously did happen if you're telling me about it!"

I glared at him. "Bearing in mind, that we are married, however unhappily, and I thought my husband should know what _almost _happened."

He laughed without humour. "So, nothing happened or something 'almost' happened? Which is it?"

"We almost kissed!" I threw my hands up in frustration, "Big deal!"

"Yeah it is a big deal! You can't be seeing other guys when you're married to me!"

"I'm not seeing any other guys!" I shouted, "I didn't kiss him, so it's completely meaningless!"

"But you're obviously attracted to him, otherwise it wouldn't have got that close would it?" Kai shouted back, pointing an accusing finger at me.

"So, what's your point?"

"You're not even denying it!"

"What would be the point in that? You're just twisting everything I say and make it sound ten times worse than it actually is!"

"Yuffie, do you know what would happen if you had an affair? You'd be disgraced! Disowned by your Father! Banished from Wutai! Along with many other consequences and punishments!"

"I know that!" I yelled, "But I haven't! And I won't! Maybe if you gave a little more attention, then you wouldn't have anything to worry about!"

"So you're saying it's me? _I'm _the problem?"

"Yeah you are! I never even wanted to marry you in the first place! I think you constantly forget this is an _arranged _marriage! I don't love you!"

Kai's handsome features distorted in pain, and I instantly felt a flood of remorse. But the remorse was quickly replaced with fear when he picked up the glass he'd been drinking from and hurled it at me. I managed to dodge it, though it missed my shoulder my inches. I winced as it shattered against the wall with a loud smashing sound, and sharp bits of glass flew everywhere along with the dark liquid previously inside the cup.

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" he roared.

I did not need to be told twice. I fled the house and ran away as fast as I could.

-x-

I didn't stop running until I'd found my way back to Vincent's apartment. I tumbled through the door and shut it quickly behind me, before leaning against it to support my trembling legs.

I was a little shaken, I'll admit.

I took a deep breath. Breathing helps. Okay, Kai was _scarily _angry. I can't believe he threw a glass at me! I could have really been hurt!

I looked up as Vincent walked into the hallway. "Yuffie, what's wrong?" he asked, an undercurrent of concern in his voice.

I rushed over to him and enveloped him in a tight hug. He put his hands on the small of my back lightly. "Kai just…scared me a bit." I said.

"Scared you how?"

"He…" Should I tell Vincent what happened? I remembered how he threatened Kai before…and decided against it. "He just got a bit angry when I told him we nearly kissed."

Vincent pulled back to look at my expression. I smiled reassuringly. He didn't seem convinced.

"What did he do to frighten you?" he asked, scanning my face.

I felt uncomfortable at his scrutiny, and wriggled out of his arms. "Nothing. He just shouted a lot."

He frowned slightly. "What else?"

He knew there was more. I tried to make my expression blank like he did. "He yelled really loud. That's it. Honestly, I thought my ears were gonna bleed."

Vincent gazed at me with an eyebrow raised for a few seconds, before deciding to let it go; he shook his head and sighed.

"Come on Vince, I'm hungry! You got any cheesecake?" I took his hand and pulled him back into the living room.

"Unfortunately not." he answered, surprising me by keeping my hand as we walked through the living room and into the kitchen.

"Ah, damn. That won't do if I'm gonna be living here. I must have deserts galore. We have to go shopping tomorrow." I told him sternly. He nodded.

"If that's what you want." he replied. I smiled.

"_That_ is a good attitude to have when living with a Princess Vinnie. Remember that."

He smiled slightly.

* * *

**Did you like it? Yes? Why? No? _Why? _0_0**

**Okay, we are slowly but surely getting somewhere. Next chapter...what are those remnants up to? Is Yuffie going back to Wutai anytime soon? And just _when _in Leviathans name will Kai get run over by a bus or something? (Not that I'm saying that's gonna happen...I have more imagination than that! But, say if I _did _kill off Kai for being so evil to Yuffie...how should it be done? Oh, wow. I'm so evil. :D)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	11. Back To Wutai

**Hi. I reckon this was a pretty quick update. And this chapter is just slightly longer than the others so far. Hope you like! :)**

**And Kat (you'll know if I'm talking to you), I put your character in this chapter, just 'cos you asked so nicely. She's Yuffie's maid, and I hope you're happy with her.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII or it's characters. Except Kai and his...moodswingness. (Uh...yeah, that may not be an actual word.)**

* * *

"I'm just not sure what to make of it." Reeve said, rubbing his temples, "We haven't been able to decipher all of the files, but we get the gist of it. Basically, they've gotten hold of some scientists, and are apparently _cloning_ remnants, and also using Jenova cells for something. But…why?"

"Who cares? Lets just go beat the crap outta them! They'll soon learn not to do it again." I suggested, punching my fist into my palm.

Vincent shook his head. "Do you not recall how badly you were hurt last time?"

"Details, details." I waved my hand airily.

Vincent rolled his eyes a little before turning to Reeve, "Do you know how they managed to get hold of Jenova cells?"

"I honestly have no idea." Reeve replied, sighing before sitting at his desk. "But they are obviously planning something big."

"Then I think we should squash 'em like bugs while we can, otherwise they're only gonna get stronger." I said, trying to convince Reeve it was a good idea to take care of them _now, _and not later.

"I don't know Yuffie, it would be smarter to find out more about them first…"

"Really, it doesn't matter all that much, I mean-"

"I agree with Reeve," Vincent said, cutting me off, "It would be better to know more about what we are up against."

I made a shocked noise, "You're agreeing with Reeve over me?" I made my eyes wide.

Reeve winced slightly, anticipating a rant about how I was under-appreciated. I had already given it to him, Cloud, Barret, and Cid before.

Vincent sighed, "It would be safer that way Yuffie. And that would mean a stealth mission would be in order, and isn't that what you do best?"

I pouted, "…Okay then, but just 'cos you have a good reason."

"Good." said Reeve, sounding slightly relived. He stood up, "Then I'll need you two to go back to that warehouse and see if you can discover anything more."

Vincent nodded, and I squealed in excitement. "Yay! Come on Vince, lets go lets go lets go!"

I turned and ran out of the room without even saying goodbye to Reeve, eager to get going as quickly as possible. I heard Vincent's footsteps following behind as I jogged down the corridor.

Huh, I'm especially hyper today. Everything is very 'go, go, go!'.

"Yuffie." Vincent called. I stopped immediately and turned around, to see him walking _slowly_ towards me. I hopped from one foot to the other, impatient.

"Oh. My. Goodness. Vinnie, you're walking so slow! Come on! I'm gonna teach those remnants a lesson after what happened last time…"

He came to a stop in front of me, and then nodded towards the window, "Isn't that Wutai's insignia on that helicopter?"

I looked out of the window, and low and behold, a helicopter with Wutai's royal symbol was hovering outside the building. Bearing in mind we were on the fourth floor.

I sighed as my shoulders slumped. No doubt my father had sent someone to bring me back.

"Oh for crying out loud…" I muttered.

"…Perhaps you should go out to meet whoever it is." Vincent suggested, glancing at me.

I gave him a look. "Or I could just run away. And no Vinnie, you haven't seen me for…a few weeks now."

He reached out and grabbed my hand, "If they're here, then it is obviously important. Come on."

"No! Vincent! You don't understand, it'll just be a party I have to go to or something!" I attempted to pull my hand out of his, but he wouldn't let go. Instead he led the way to the elevator. I struggled some more, but eventually decided it was futile.

"I am _not_ happy about this Vince!" I said sullenly.

"I apologise for that Yuffie." he replied, still holding my hand, not that I minded.

I glared at the floor of the elevator as Vincent pressed the 'ground floor' button. The elevator started moving down, creating an all too familiar churning in my stomach as my motion sickness kicked in. The nausea was doubled when I remembered that recurring nightmare. Stupid elevators…

"Are you alright?" asked Vincent, pulling me out of the elevator as soon as the doors had opened.

"Yeah." I mumbled. My face must look quite pale…

"Sorry." he apologised, "I forgot your fear of them, we will take the stairs next time."

I smiled. "Don't worry, not necessary."

He gave me a slightly concerned look.

"I don't know why you're making me go talk to whoever it is on that helicopter anyway." I said, "You're just trying to get rid of me aren't you?"

Vincent frowned a little, "I'm not trying to get rid of you Yuffie." he said quietly, "I actually enjoy your company."

My eyes widened. Did Vincent just say he enjoyed my company? No, I must have heard him wrong.

"Repeat that last bit please." I requested.

I could see he was trying not to smile. "I enjoy your company."

I frowned. No one had ever said that to me before.

Ah, the awkwardness of asking someone to repeat what they just said for a third time, it rather frequently happens to me. "I'm sorry, your gonna have to say that once more for me."

Vincent chuckled. I gaped.

"You're _laughing? _Ah, I don't get it! Are you laughing at me?"

He shook his head. "I said; I, enjoy, your, company." he pronounced each word slowly.

I blinked. "No frickin' way!" I exclaimed.

He looked reasonably amused. "And why is that so hard to believe?"

"Vincent. Do you realise what you said…three times? _You _just said you enjoyed _my _company. Since when?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I have learned to embrace your hyperactive behaviour." was all he said.

"Wow. Well I never. Ya know what Vince? I'm pretty damn sure you are the first person to _ever_ do that. Congratulations. You honestly deserve a medal."

"Thank you." he said, pulling me towards the double doors, "Now lets go talk to them so we can get on with this mission."

I smiled. "Okay."

Vincent let go of my hand as we stepped out of the building.

"Princess Yuffie." A royal guard greeted, bowing slightly, "I hope you are well?"

I nodded, folding my arms. "What does Godo want?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

The guard smiled. "He wishes your return to Wutai, my lady, there is an important ceremony that requires your attendance."

I glanced at Vincent to say 'I told you so.' "Well tell him I couldn't care less, and that I won't be attending." I told the guard.

"I'm sorry, but he told me not to take no for an answer, my lady. Your attendance is compulsory, as Lord Godo is inviting the Iitaka royal family to the palace."

"Kai's family?" I shrieked, "You're joking?"

"I'm afraid not Princess."

"Oh my goodness!" I'd glimpsed a few of the Iitakas at the wedding, but I hadn't actually _talked _to them…

"So, my lady, it is of the utmost importance that you return to Wutai immediately." The guard said, bowing respectfully again.

"Ah crap." I whined.

-x-

"I am _so _not happy about this!" I complained to the pilot as we flew over some buildings near the edge of Wutai.

"So you have told me, my lady, more than once." he replied, a trace of laughter in his voice. I pouted.

"It's not fair!" I said, "Stupid parties…"

This 'stupid party' had _only_ dragged me away from the mission I was supposed to be going on with Vincent! And I was really looking forward to it too! I'd explained to Reeve the situation, and he'd said it was fine. I have such an understanding boss. I'd told Vincent to go ahead and kick some remnant butt without me.

I glared out of the window, not finding comfort in the familiar land that I saw, "I had a remnant butt-kicking session planned! This is interfering with my schedule!"

"I apologise Princess, perhaps you should take it up with the Emperor?"

"You know, I think I will." I said. Of _course_ I was gonna tell my father what an asshole he was for interfering with my plans at the most _inconvenient _times.

And he made me ride in a helicopter! Hello? Does anyone else see the problem with that? _Motion sickness! _Confined spaces don't help! He could've just sent me an airship, but no…lets make Yuffie suffer!

"Well then, you can tell him now." the guard sitting next to me said, gesturing towards the window to my left.

I looked out eagerly, to see Godo and Kai standing outside the palace gates. Okay, I wasn't really looking forward to seeing my dear old daddy, but I was _definitely _not looking forward to seeing my husband.

"Hey pilot, if you don't land this helicopter incredibly smoothly, you're fired." I told him, my stomach currently in the process of doing a few somersaults.

"Yes Princess Yuffie." he replied, concentrating on landing the helicopter as gently as possible.

I breathed deeply as I felt it touch down, and the guard opened the door for me.

"Yuffie, my daughter, it is good to see you." Godo rumbled in his gravely voice. Ha! What a lie that is.

"Yuffie…" Kai greeted, taking my hand and helping me of the helicopter. I pulled my hand out of his as soon as my feet touched beautiful, reassuring land. I ignored his greeting, and instead concentrated on my father.

"Good to see you too, old man." I smiled. It was nice to see him, really. I'll save the helicopter rant until later.

"Come daughter, we have much to discuss." said Godo, gesturing to me to follow him. I did so. Kai fell into step beside me.

"You okay?" he asked, "You look very pale."

"That is because _someone_ made me ride in a chopper- bearing in mind I have motion sickness -so I can attend a crappy party that I am going to despise, so I can meet his family and probably make a huge fool of myself." I muttered scathingly, so my father wouldn't overhear.

Kai sighed, then forced a quiet laugh. "Well, it's good to have you back."

I pouted. I couldn't believe it. I was back in Wutai. Sigh…

"The Iitaka family are expected in a few hours, Yuffie. Go upstairs and get ready. The maids will assist you." Godo said, waving at me in dismissal.

"Woah, wait…aren't you attending this little get together?" I asked him.

"Of course not." Godo answered, as though it was obvious, "They already know _me _quite well, it's you they want to meet."

I gaped after him as he retreated to the kitchen. That…that…_hypocrite! _Same old Godo.

Oh joy, it was _great _to be back! No, not really, fool. That was called sarcasm.

I walked straight past Kai without looking at him, made my way through the throne room, and up two flights of stairs to my bedroom. That was the only thing about Wutai I had particularly missed (except my people of course). I was looking forward to sprawling out on my comfortingly familiar bed. I smiled at the mere thought, before swinging open my bedroom door.

I blinked, then made a horrified, choked gasp.

"WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO MY ROOM?" I screamed.

All my stuff was _gone! _My pictures and posters, my possessions, weapons, everything! The room was bare except for the king-size bed near the window, but even then my precious Wutainese silk sheets were absent.

A maid came running, Tenya she was called. She was one of my favourites because she'd been tending to me since I was five, just before my mother died. She looked a lot like her actually, with long, shiny black hair, and she looked really quite young for her age. She also had the same shaped eyes, only hers were a vivid green that reminded me of Aerith. Hence why I liked her so much.

"Tenya! What's happened to all my stuff?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"Oh, Lady Yuffie, Master Kai commanded we move all your things into the larger room just next door to your previous one. Don't worry, all your possessions are in there." she said reassuringly, bowing a little.

I stared at her, open mouthed. _"Why?"_

She looked a little uncomfortable, "Now Yuffie, I did tell him you wouldn't be happy, but he insisted-"

"What has he done?" I said.

She bit her lip delicately, reminding me of Aerith again. "Well, I do believe he has moved all _his_ things in there too…"

"Woah, hold on! You mean, as in, _sharing_ the room?"

She nodded with an slightly apprehensive look on her face, hoping I wouldn't take my wrath out on her.

"…Tenya, you can relax. It's not you who I'm going to torture." I told her gently, my tone contrasting with my words. She laughed lightly.

"Please don't be too harsh on him Lady Yuffie, I'm sure he meant well. Really, he's quite charming." she told me, folding her hands in front of her.

"Charming huh? Sure he is, that was my first impression." I muttered, "But we'll see how charming he is when he's dead."

I turned and walked a short way along the hallway, opening the door to my 'new' room. It was worse than I'd feared. All _my _weapons and _his _weapons sat on the same large stand that used to be _mine. _And _my_ too-large wardrobe was right next to _his _even larger one. And all _my _pictures along with _his _pictures hung on the walls. Worst of all…_my_ silk sheets were on _his _king-size four poster bed. Honestly, I could have cried.

"That asshole!" I said loudly. How dare he? Without consulting me first? Not that I'd have _ever _agreed to this.

I breathed deeply, before turning to Tenya. "Would you like me to find Prince Kai and tell him you're looking for him?" she asked politely.

"Nah, I've got it covered." I told her. Her eyes widened.

"Okay, I'd better get out of the way." she said, retreating back down the stairs rather quickly.

I took a deep breath. "KAI, GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Yep, that was a good one. I'm sure Leviathan himself could've heard me from all that way up in the sky…

I waited impatiently for a few more seconds, before I heard quiet footsteps coming up the stairs towards me. "You called?" Kai said, coming to a stop beside me.

"What the fuck is this?" I gestured to the room.

"This is our room." he answered.

"_Our _room?" I said incredulously.

"Generally, that is what married couples do." he responded calmly.

"Kai, I am not sharing a room with you! In particular, I am not sharing a _bed _with you!"

"So you'll share a bed with Vincent Valentine, but not with me, your husband?"

"W-well…that's different!"

"Of course." he said.

"I'm glad you agree!" I said acidly, "Now, I'm gonna move all my stuff back into my room. And no, there is nothing you can do to stop me, so don't even fucking _try!_"

I saw the pain in his eyes, though his expression remained blank.

I felt a tiny bit guilty. "Um…listen, Kai…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

He nodded stiffly. He was still upset about me and Vincent.

I sighed. "I just had a bad nightmare that night, and if I don't get any comfort then I can't sleep. It's mainly because of my mother." I explained. His eyes softened.

"…I'll comfort you." he murmured.

I didn't know what to say. How could I possibly say no when he was looking at me like that?

I smiled, "Thank you. I…don't mind if we share a room."

His eyes lit up, and a small smile graced his lips. "Really?"

I nodded, "Really."

His small smile became a full blown grin.

-x-

"Lady Yuffie, please hold still."

"I can't! I fidget when I'm nervous!"

"The Iitakas seem like nice people Yuffie, I'm sure you'll get along."

"Tenya, when was the last time Godo hosted a party, and I was actually well behaved? That time when I _accidentally _turned the dining table intoa battlefield is a pretty good example."

She laughed. "Oh yes, I remember, _I _was the one who had to clean it all up!"

"Hehe, sorry."

Oh. Holy. Leviathan. The Iitaka family was waiting downstairs for me! Well, not the _whole _family, obviously. Kai's mother and father, his brother, and two sisters who were twins apparently.

"…Finished." Tenya announced, sliding a butterfly clip into my hair. Yes, I had to squeeze myself into a kimono again.

"Thank you." I said, standing up.

She bowed respectfully, and we left my new room together.

"You go in first." I told her. She smiled.

"All right. No running away miss!" she slid back the door and stepped inside the dining room. I grimaced. Damn, my plan has been discovered…going to have to abandon it. I sighed before I followed suit.

I scanned the large dining table as I entered. They all were a good looking bunch. I recognised Kai's father immediately, he had the same handsome features, and the same warm brown but gold-tinted eyes. A smile brightened his features as I came in, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Yuffie." Kai stood up and drew out the chair next to him, and I sat before he pushed it forwards again a little.

"She's so _pretty._" I heard a girl whisper to another, who must have been her twin. I blushed, and Kai kissed me on the cheek. I smiled good-naturedly.

"Yuffie, it's a pleasure to finally meet you properly, we didn't get a chance to talk at the wedding." said the man I thought was Kai's father, as Kai himself sat next to me.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't able to meet everyone. Kai's father I assume?"

He smiled, "You assume correctly. My name is Kahaya Iitaka."

"Wonderful to meet you." I said, smiling all the while.

"And I am Ayatsu, Kai's mother." the middle aged woman said. "We _should _have been introduced at the wedding as soon as possible, but Kai has been putting off our introduction for some reason." she sent a disapproving look towards her son. He sighed.

"I'm Joshuyo." A boy said. He looked younger than Kai, and had a rounder face, with slightly darker eyes. "Great to finally meet my sister-in-law."

I grinned. "Nice to meet you too. May I call you Josh?"

The boy looked delighted, "You definitely can."

"My name's Yuriko! And It's an honour to meet you Princess Yuffie!" the girl who had whispered to her sister waved at me from opposite the table. I liked this girl already.

"Hi-" I was cut off by her sister before I could bet out a proper greeting.

"And I'm Narumi! Can I have your autograph? I was _so_ excited when I found out my brother was going to be marrying Yuffie Kisaragi, of all people! You're part of Avalanche! Saviour of the Planet!"

I grinned. I liked this girl too. She reminded me of me, only younger. She looked around sixteen.

"Hi Narumi. Yes you can, just get me a pen and paper. I'll bet you were incredibly excited, you seem like the type. I know I'm part of Avalanche, and I love it. And I don't mean to brag, but we've saved the Planet more than once now."

Everyone laughed lightly, except Narumi, who blushed and looked down at her lap. And except Ayatsu.

I successfully broke the ice. After the introductions were out of the way, it was easy to strike up casual conversation. And I hadn't embarrassed myself yet. So far so good.

However, Ayatsu seemed particularly hard to please.

She criticized the food that was brought for us. All eleven courses of it, in fact. I thought it was exquisite; the chefs had pulled out all the stops in an attempt to impress, but she didn't seem happy with that. She constantly reproached her children for their 'inadequate table manners', which I found totally unnecessary, considering they were much better than mine. But it was the final straw when Tenya spilled just a little of the tea she was pouring her, and Ayatsu complained that she should be sacked for such a thing.

I rushed to Tenya's defence, "I'd never dream of sacking Tenya. She's been caring for me since I was five, and I happen to think she's exceptionally good at her job. And I don't think _anyone _deserves to be fired just for spilling some tea."

Ayatsu looked shocked, I noted with quiet satisfaction. Tenya smiled at me from behind her back. But the atmosphere was tense, Kai was glancing between me and his mother with a slightly worried expression.

"Well, I apologise Yuffie, but in the Iitaka household everything is much more pristine, and the servants are better trained." she said, with an air of smugness about her.

Oh, how cliché. I have a monster-in-law. I did not like this woman one little bit.

I smiled sweetly, "Apology accepted. Though in _my _household, I reckon the maids are much happier, and therefore more loyal."

"Are you suggesting the servants of the Iitaka family are _not_ _loyal_?" she sounded scandalised. But loyalty amongst your entourage was a big thing.

"Well, from what I've seen of how you treat them, it wouldn't surprise me." I retorted.

"Then you insult your own household, considering you are an Iitaka yourself."

I frowned slightly and glanced at Kai. I thought I was allowed to keep my maiden name?

He sent me a pleading look that said, 'please just drop it.' I responded with a meaningful look of my own.

"Excuse us for just a second." I said, standing up. Kai followed warily.

"Atrocious manners; just getting up and leaving, without asking her husbands permission first!" I heard Ayatsu whisper. I rolled my eyes. So she was one of _those. _The traditional kind that thought they were underneath men. Those kind of women _really _annoyed me.

"Mother!" I heard the twins whisper in unison as I walked away, "You can't say things like that to Yuffie Kisaragi!"

"She is an Iitaka now, and she will respect her mother-in-law." I heard her whisper back as I disappeared from their view into the next room.

I rounded on Kai. "I thought I could keep my maiden name?"

"Yuffie…"

"No, I'm sure this was agreed. Since the Kisaragi family was _considerably _more powerful than the Iitakas, I could keep my family name."

"It doesn't necessarily work like that." he told me.

"What?"

"Yuffie, you are part of the Iitaka family now, so you have to take that name, otherwise our marriage is void."

I blinked. "I don't _want _to take any other name! I like Kisaragi! It was my mothers name, and I am not changing it!"

"Too bad, you'll have to."

"Then it looks like our marriage is void! Because I won't!"

"Yuffie," Kai's eyes had darkened, "you are really starting to test my patience."

For a moment I felt fear constrict my throat, and I couldn't speak. I hated when his eyes took on that coldness.

"I'd been meaning to explain this to you. You are no longer Yuffie Kisaragi. It's on all the official documents, you're Yuffie Iitaka now."

I stared at him. "So just when were you going to tell me that my name had been changed without my permission?"

"Oh, don't be so stupid!" he said, stepping towards me, invading my personal space. I tried to step back, but he grabbed my arm. "You agreed to change your name when you agreed to marry me!"

"So it was by force then!"

"I don't care either way!" he hissed, "Now, you are going to go back in there, sit down, shut up, and stop acting like the spoiled brat you are!"

"I will do no such thing!" I yelled, wrenching my arm from his grasp. "Maybe I should go and tell your parents what a pathetic husband you are! How you never treat me well, how you neglect me…and, oh, maybe I should tell them about that little incident when you threw a glass at me! _And_ that little misunderstanding when you stranded me in the middle of nowhere and I almost got attacked!"

I turned on my heel and made for the door, but Kai grabbed my arm again and wrenched me back forcefully.

"Don't. You. Dare." he spoke dangerously, "I am warning you Yuffie, you'll keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you."

"Ouch!" I gasped, "Kai, you're hurting me!" He was squeezing my arm tight, so tight I knew it would bruise.

His eyes flickered to his hand, clamped around my forearm. And he let go immediately.

"I'm sorry." he said, looking at me concernedly. "I didn't mean to."

I stared at him, rubbing my arm, saying nothing.

"Come on, they'll be wondering what's keeping us." he mumbled. I nodded and followed him back into the dining room.

I did as he said, I sat down and shut up. Ayatsu was much more agreeable when I was being submissive.

But I soon got bored of that.

For the rest of the diner, I was forming a plan with my superior ninja intelligence. I was plotting revenge.

…Gawd, I am so evil.

* * *

**And that is all for this chappie. **

**The next chapter is slightly more eventful, in which Yuffie takes revenge on Kai and embarrasses him in front of his parents. :D And Vinnie's gonna be in the next chapter, yay!**

**Oh yeah! Thank you to reviewers! Cyber hugs for you! You rock! :D**

**Please point out any spelling mistakes or anything, I'm getting worse rather than better. **

**And thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	12. Family Feuds

**Another quick update, no? Yeah! Go me!**

**Now, this chapter...seems to run a bit quickly to me. Meh! So frustrating! I've edited a fair bit, but...I'll see what you think of it. Honestly, I don't like it when other writers make it run too quickly, and yet I'm guilty of it myself. I feel like such a hypocrite.**

**If I owned FFVII, Yuffie and Vincent would get together. But they are not together are they? So I **_**clearly**_** don't own it. Maybe I should kidnap the head of Square Enix and force him to make another game in which there is lots of Yuffentine love…would that be classed as insane? I can't be the **_**only**_** one who thinks that's a good idea…right?**

* * *

So, Kai's family…in summary, the twins are my favourite family members. Don't ask me to pick a favourite twin, 'cos I really couldn't choose. I've decided to refer to them as one single entity, with I shall dub 'Gemini'. Kahaya, Kai's dad, was my next favourite. He was everything a dad should be; he had a good sense of humour, he doted on me, and he was generally a nice guy. He was old (ish) and wise too, better than my old man anyway. Next was Joshuyo, who I'm allowed to call Josh. He's seventeen, and a real sweetheart, Leviathan bless him. It was quite safe to say that Ayatsu was my _least _favourite, for obvious reasons. Basically, she was a bitch. And Kai, well…I'm sure you know all about Kai. He was very…temperamental.

I'd soon teach him a lesson for that. And for yelling at me. Andfor leaving me out in the middle of nowhere. _And _for throwing a glass at me. _And _for hurting my arm.

Nyuk. Nyuk. Nyuk.

So, for the rest of the dinner, I was mainly silent. Tenya kept giving me odd looks, like she knew I was plotting something. Which I was…but that didn't give her a reason to be suspicious of me! The Single White Rose of Wutai is an angel! (Cue praying stance and glowing halo.)

…Mostly. A _ninja_ angel had special privileges you see. Because I am a _ninja_ angel, stealing is acceptable. In fact, not only is it acceptable, it is worshiped as one of the most skilful things a ninja angel can do in the ninja angel religion of…ninja-angel-ness. Revenge is acceptable too, as angel's have a lot of wrath to give. And it is encouraged that a ninja angel should practice said religion often.

Well, in my world anyway.

The Ninja Angel…oh wow, that is such an awesome title! I think I'm gonna adopt that one too…

"Yuffie? Are you full?" Kai asked quietly.

I looked up at him. I really needed to stop daydreaming like that…

"Oh, yeah." I smiled pleasantly. He smiled back.

"Then I think it would be a good idea for all of us to go sit in the garden for a while." he said.

I nodded with enthusiasm. The gardens were really beautiful, with paper lanterns and big water fountains and…ooh that rhymes! Anyway…this was perfect, the garage was in the garden.

The Iitakas (which included myself, unfortunately) strode out into the garden, chatting casually. I kept quiet for the most part, until we had sat down on the benches.

Commence mission G.R.O.K.A.E.H.I.F.O.H.M. also known as Get Revenge On Kai And Embarrass Him In Front Of His Mother. This should be good.

"So…Kai, I've been meaning to ask, during our honeymoon…" I began sweetly. He flashed me a warning look as his mother gave a disdainful expression. Traditionally, it was shameful to even _hint _upon your sex life, not that I had one yet. But they didn't know that.

"I was just wondering…you know, in the car…" I trailed of to savour the look on both his and Ayatsu's face, "I think I left something in there." Yes, you dirty minded people, that was all I was going to say! Shame on you! "Can I have the key's to the garage, just so I can check? It's really important."

He gave he a suspicious look. "Uh, sure." He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, "Here."

"Thank you." I stood up and took the key's from him, before kissing him on the lips lightly, making him blush a little. Ayatsu looked shocked I would do such a thing in public, while Kahaya and Joshuyo looked amused, and the twins were giggling at their brothers blush. As soon as I was out of sight there was a chorus of wolf whistles and ooh!'s.

I jogged over to the garage door and inserted the key into the lock, before sliding the door up and open. There it was, Kai's car, the same one he'd kicked me out of when we were on our 'honeymoon' (I use the term loosely). It stood in a row with many other expensive ones, not that I knew the significance of their models or anything. A car was a car, as long as it looked sleek and pretty, I wasn't that bothered if it was a Lamborghini or a B.M.W.

I checked Kai's set of keys. Yep, I was pretty sure the big black handled one was for his car. Kai only drove the one kinda pearl coloured car (which I _think _is an Alfa Romeo), the rest he owned were "collectables". Who in their right minds collects _cars? _Really?

I pressed the little symbol for 'unlock' on the key, saw the headlights of the car flash twice, along with that signature high pitched 'blep blep' sound. Yes blep blep, that is how I describe it.

I got in the car and started it up. I _can_ actually drive. I barely passed, but you can't blame me…waiting at a red light is so boring!

I may have scratched the two cars next to me as I pulled out of the garage, not that I cared all that much. I parked it just outside the garage itself, before getting out and searching the garage for something sharp. I didn't have my shuriken, you see.

Aha, bingo. Crowbar. I grinned evilly when I spotted it. I grabbed it and sauntered back over to the car. Oh, this is a good day. Kai was going to _flip _when he found out, but he deserved it.

I raised my weapon of choice and gripped it tightly in my hand. This was for all the things Kai had done, and now I was getting my own back. I swung the crowbar back, before smashing it into the passenger window forcefully, shattering the glass.

Wow, that felt good. I grinned and smashed she front window, then the back, and all the sides. I enjoyed the loud sound the glass made as it shattered on impact with the crowbar. I smashed it into the car repeatedly, letting out all my anger and frustration towards Kai and my stupid arranged marriage.

When the car was sufficiently destroyed, I took a step back to admire my work. It _looked _damaged beyond repair. I considered setting fire to what was left of it, or burning the whole garage to the ground, but that seemed a bit _too _OTT.

Instead I used the crowbar to scratch the initials Y.K. into the side, just so there was no confusion. He'd know it was me anyway.

I smiled in satisfaction, before chucking the crowbar back into the garage and closing the door, locking it behind me.

-x-

"You took a while, Yuffie. Did you find what you were looking for?" Kahaya asked. I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I just left one of my kunai in the car. I found it eventually." I replied breezily.

Ayatsu tutted. I ignored her as I handed Kai's keys back to him.

"I don't remember you taking any kunai on our honeymoon." Kai said, giving me a suspicious look. I smiled sweetly.

"I had them concealed on me, dear, like all great ninja's would. Would you like to know where?"

He cleared his throat awkwardly, while everyone except Ayatsu laughed.

"Anyway…cars." Joshuyo offered as a new subject, "How many do you have now Kai?" he smirked, like he thought it was a bit pointless to 'collect' cars too.

Kai grinned, "A fair few now. In fact, I think I'll show you. Coming?" he stood up and looked at each of us.

He wasn't supposed to find out yet. I'd thought I could be back in Edge by the time he saw the wreck that used to be his precious form of transport.

…Oh well, it would be much more satisfying to see the expression on his face, I suppose.

"Sure." I stood up, "First I need to powder my nose, I think."

"I will accompany you." Ayatsu said before Kai could say anything. I forced a smile and nodded. I had _wanted _to run up to my (wait, no, scratch that. Mine _and Kai's_) room, to watch his reaction. But I guess I really had to go powder my nose now.

Ayatsu walked with me in silence, scrutinising the décor. I'd bet my secret materia stash she didn't like it. I wondered where Godo was. Stuffing his face in the kitchens, most likely.

"So, Yuffie…" Ayatsu started. I internally groaned, putting a fake smile on my face. "This palace is quite magnificent." she commented, "Who came up with the colour scheme?"

I blinked. "My mother." I told her cautiously. She nodded as we entered the small bathhouse.

"Ah, it seems like she was a wonderful person, from what I have heard."

"She was." I said resolutely, going into the first available room with Ayatsu following behind.

"I've been told you look a lot like her." she said conversationally, sitting down on one of the stools in front of a large mirror.

"I guess so, but she was much prettier." I said, sitting down next to her in front of another mirror.

"Hmm…I wonder what she would think of you, if she were here."

My face froze in shock. "What?"

"I was just wondering if she would be disappointed in you, since you are not a traditional lady like she was."

My mouth dropped open, but I recovered quickly, "I'm sorry, but you didn't know my mother. _I _did, and I can tell you she'd encourage me to live my life however I wanted."

"How can you be sure? She died when you were very young, so you don't really know her any better than I do."

I stood up. "I'm her daughter! And I loved her with all my heart, so I think I know her better than anyone!"

She stood too. "I wouldn't bet on it, sweetheart-"

"Yuffie!" Kai came storming in, along with the rest of his family, but before he could get a word out I turned at him and yelled "Shut up!" the same time Ayatsu did and said "Silence!"

"I think _you _should shut the hell up too!" I warned her. She smiled in a sickening way.

"Darling, I'm only giving my opinion. You are such an uncouth woman, I should think your mother's turning in her grave."

I raised my hand and slapped her across the face, hard.

"How _dare _you?" I screamed, as the twins gasped. "How dare you talk about my mama like that? You bitch!"

"Yuffie!" Kai grabbed my waist and dragged me back as I went to hit her again. I struggled as he dragged me out of the room.

"Let me go! I'm going to strangle her, that malicious, hateful, shrivelled old cow!" I screamed. Kai spun me round to face him and grabbed my shoulders roughly.

"How dare _you _slap my mother! And why the _fuck _did you do that to my car?" his voice was filled with rage.

"No one talks about my mother like that and gets away with it! And I haven't got a clue what's happened to your car!"

"Don't play dumb with me Yuffie! The initials Y.K. scratched into the side were just coincidental were they?"

"_My _initials are not Y.K. I'm Yuffie _Iitaka, _remember?" I said viciously. He looked like he was dying to hit something.

"Just what is going on?" Godo asked, walking into the bathhouse. Kai let go of my shoulders immediately.

"Your daughter is a disgrace!" Ayatsu said, coming in from the other room, "She has raised her hand to her mother-in-law!"

Godo looked shocked. "Yuffie, is this true?"

"Yes it is!" I yelled, "And I'd do it again! She was talking about mama in a horrible way!" I felt tears well up in my eyes, blurring my vision.

Godo walked over to me and put a comforting arm around my shoulders. "Now now daughter, calm down. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding."

I was about to tell him it was most certainly _not _a misunderstanding, but Ayatsu got there first.

"We are leaving. I will not stay in this violent woman's presence any longer! Come!" she ordered her family, and they trooped out in silence, Kai following after them.

I hated to cry in front of people, especially Godo, but I couldn't help it this time. I sobbed into my fathers shoulder, "She said mama would be disappointed in me, if she was here today!"

"Oh Yuffie, surely she would not say such a thing. Perhaps you misheard."

I shook my head, "I didn't misunderstand! She said it!"

"Yuffie, stop being silly!" Godo said sternly.

"Why won't you believe me?" I turned and ran away from him before he could give an answer, I wouldn't find any comfort in him anyway. No one really cared for me, except my mother…but she was gone.

-x-

I lay curled up on top of my silk sheets in my pyjamas, staring off into space, since I'd cried myself out a while ago. I missed my mama so much. Having Kai's family over only made it worse.

Truth is, Ayatsu was right. I didn't really know my mother. She'd died before I could _really _get to know her. Maybe she would be disappointed in me, if she could see me now.

And on top of that, I was gonna get hell from Kai, when he came to see me. Oh well. I _wasn't_ going to apologise for smashing up his car.

Speak of the devil. Kai walked through the door. He sighed when he saw me.

"Hey." he said, sounding calm and compassionate, much to my surprise, "Are you okay?"

I nodded. He walked over and sat on the bed, pulling me into his arms. I didn't bother to resist, instead I rested my head on his chest comfortably.

"_I _heard what she said." he whispered, "I know you weren't lying. Please forgive her, she just…values tradition quite highly."

I snorted. "That doesn't excuse her talking about my mother like that."

I felt him nod. "I know. That must have struck a nerve. I understand."

"…I miss my mama." I said, sounding tearful again. Oh for goodness sake, no! No more crying!

"Shh." Kai rocked me gently, and I clutched to his shirt. He rubbed my back for a few minutes until I'd calmed down.

"And as for my car," he said. I stiffened in his arms. "…I can always get a new one. But it will be hard to find that special addition…I don't suppose you're going to apologise are you?"

"Am I hell." I said. He chuckled.

"Of course not." he kissed my forehead lightly. "Are you tired?"

I nodded and pulled away from him, sliding under the covers. I caught one last glimpse of the moon before Kai drew the curtains and switched off the light. He slid into bed next to me, and I closed my eyes.

"Your sheets are really comfortable." he murmured. I smiled.

"They are aren't they?" I replied quietly, eyes still closed.

"Not as soft as your skin though." he whispered, reaching for me and pulling me to his chest. I let him, relaxing into unconsciousness.

His embrace wasn't as warm as Vincent's.

* * *

**Sing along if you know it! "I bust the windows out'cha car,**

**You know I did it 'cos I left my mark,**

**Wrote my initials with the crowbar,**

**And then I drove off in to the dark."**

**:D This chapter was partly inspired by Jazmine Sullivan's 'Bust Your Windows', though I prefer Glee's version better. **

**Anyway, hope you liked! I made Kai's mum really evil didn't I? I didn't originally plan for her to be such a cow, really. **

**Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes I may have missed. :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	13. Routine

**Hey. :) Okie dokie, I'm not gonna say much, let's just get on with it yeah? Vinnie's in this chapter! Woo! Read on. :D**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

Every day after that was the same old, boring routine. I get up, get a shower, get dressed, breakfast…then roam around the palace looking for something to do. Kai was always _working. _Eventually I got so bored I actually wanted to help him, but he said he worked best by himself, so I left him alone. Next I eat lunch, and then go out into Wutai to find something to do. It was a little more entertaining than staying in the palace, and there were lots of shops and stuff I could go to. But I'd seen it all before. Boring. I'd have my dinner at a restaurant, and then head back home. There I'd lounge about eating ice cream and moaning to Tenya or anyone else who'd listen how bored I was. Sigh. I also watched a bit of T.V, but I could do that anywhere.

And every night I'd curl into bed with Kai, and we'd fall asleep snuggled up to each other. Not that we, ya know, _did _anything. I knew I was _supposed _to. But there was no way I was ready, and Kai said that was okay.

And so, every day was the same. You know things are bad when the highlight or your day is sitting on your couch eating ice cream.

I could not live the rest of my life like this.

Today, I was going to tell Kai he'd better get quit working just for _one_ afternoon and take me somewhere. Anywhere. I was gonna die of boredom soon. Honestly, I could practically _feel_ each of my brain cells dying one by one. I needed so do something productive.

I know! I'll go into the forests! Yeah, I'll kick some monsters butts. Oh…Godo said I wasn't allowed out of the city…oh well.

I sprung up off the pillow I was sitting on and grabbed my Conformer, filled with renewed energy. I grinned at Godo as I sped past him before he could stop me.

Oh, fresh air! Have you ever been indoors for ages, and then you step outside and it's just like…yes! Run around in circles! I sprinted towards the forest, the happiest I'd been in a while. A good fight would help me feel better.

My phone started ringing, and I skidded to a stop. And groaned. It was probably one of my 'advisors' (I use the term loosely, though not with as much sarcasm as 'honeymoon'). For a few seconds, I considered just letting it ring, but it was probably important. To them anyway.

Sighing, I took my phone out of the pocket of my shorts and answered it without looking at the caller I.D, already knowing who it would be.

"Hello?" I said without my usual enthusiasm.

"…Hello Yuffie." A familiar voice said. My heart lifted, and I grinned.

"Vinnie! Yay! This is like, the first time _you _have ever called _me! _To what do I owe the honour?"

"I called to tell you how the mission went." he said in his deep, soothing voice.

"Oh! I'd totally forgot about that! Did you find anything useful?" I asked, sitting down at the base of a tree.

"No. The warehouse had been burned to the ground when I arrived. When I did get underground, it became apparent they had relocated."

"Relocated? As in, they've moved somewhere else?"

"Yes. Everything we saw before has disappeared."

"Damn! So, you're gonna have to find them again?"

"It would seem so."

"Unlucky. More work for you, I suppose. Actually, no, I take that back. I'd _love_ to be working right now. Wutai is so _boring!_"

I launched into a rant about how truly boring Wutai was to me at this point in my life. Don't get me wrong, I love my country, but _gawd. _I talked about how I was sick of doing the same thing every day. I told him about Kai's family, and what a _bitch _his mother was. I was laughing when I told him what I'd done to Kai's car, and I could have sworn I heard a small chuckle come from the other end of the line, though he denied it when I asked.

"You're glad I smashed up his car aren't you? Admit it, I know you hate his guts." I said.

"…Maybe. Just a little. Though I'm curious as to why you did it. What made you so angry?"

I thought quickly. I still wasn't going to tell him about the glass smashing incident.

"Well, I guess I was just frustrated towards the whole arranged marriage thing. And he left me out in the middle of nowhere, I never did get back at him for that…oh! _And_ he moved my bedroom! I couldn't believe it! I got back, went upstairs and my bedroom was empty!"

"He, moved your bedroom?" Vincent sounded slightly confused.

"Well, no. He moved all my s_tuff. _And he moved all his stuff into the same room too, so now we share. Man, did I give him hell for it!"

Vincent had fallen silent.

"Vinnie? You still there? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Yuffie?" I heard a voice calling for me somewhere in the forest.

"Erm, Vinnie, I have to go."

"…Alright. I hope to see you soon."

I smiled. "Yeah…I miss you too. Bye Vince."

"Goodbye Yuffie." his voice sounded so uncharacteristically gentle, that I forgot to put the phone down for a second.

"Yuffie, there you are."

Kai emerged from the trees, and I pressed the 'end call' button.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

He strode over to me and lifted me to my feet, scooping me up into a hug. "You worried me for a second there, girl. I thought some monster had managed to hurt you."

I snorted. "Of course not. No one can harm the Great Ninja Yuffie! Or, as I shall now be known…the Ninja Angel!"

He laughed lightly, letting me go. "The Ninja Angel huh? Another title you've given yourself?"

"I think it's the best title yet." I told him assertively.

He nodded, putting an arm around my shoulders. "I have to agree, that one is pretty…ingenious."

I giggled as we began to walk out of the forests.

"Who was that on the phone?" Kai asked.

"Vincent. He wanted to tell me how his mission went."

"Oh." Kai's voice had lost it's light hearted tone.

I glanced at him. "What? Is there a problem with me talking to my friends?"

"No. It's just _him _I've got a problem with."

"Why? He hasn't done anything."

"Except from threaten me, yeah. And there's the small fact that he obviously likes you." He said, sounding bitter.

"What? No he doesn't!" I squeaked. I think I was blushing.

Kai dropped his arm from my shoulders. "Are you _dense? _He cares for you way more than he should! How could you not have noticed? He tried to _kiss_ you! And you never did deny that you were attracted to him!"

"Kai! Me and Vincent are _friends! _That's it! Nothing more! We're close, but that is as close as we are ever going to get!"

"Right. Sharing a bed and almost kissing is the closest you're ever going to get, well I'd say that's pretty damn close Yuffie! And you expect me to be perfectly fine with that?"

I made a frustrated noise. Why did we always have to argue? "Look, I don't want to argue with you-" I started, but he cut me off.

"It's a bit late now Yuffie! For Leviathan's sake, can you not leave him alone? Are you so hopelessly attached to him that you can't go without seeing or calling him?"

"Vincent's company is miles better than yours! _We've_ barely spent any time together, because you're always working! And _he _called _me!"_

"I rest my case! He likes you. And you've made it quite clear you prefer him over me!"

"You know what Kai? I think I do! Vincent treats me like I'm worth something, but to you I might as well be a ghost! I hate this arranged marriage! I hate this place! I hate _you! _I'm leaving!"

I spun on my heel and ran away from him, back to the palace.

"Yuffie wait!" I heard Kai running after me, but I just pushed myself faster. There was no way he could actually catch me. No one could, as of yet.

I ran back through my city, back to the palace, and up to the rooftop where we kept all Wutai's helicopters and airships. I know, Wutai had actually become a fairly rich city. I was proud, but still upset it was a tourist's playground.

"Yuffie! Please, slow down! Think about this!" Kai called after me.

I ignored him. Instead I barged into the building the pilots would be in, drinking coffee or whatever. "Someone who can drive an airship is going to take me to Edge _now!_" I ordered. They all sprang up.

"Uh, I-I'm available to take you to Edge, Princess Yuffie." the closest guy to me said.

"Good. Start up the engines!"

"Yes my lady." he replied.

"You can't just take off to Edge Yuffie!" Kai had caught up to me.

"I can and will. I am in fact." I told him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said-"

"I'm leaving Wutai alright? You can't stop me!"

"No, it's not alright!" he said forcefully.

"Tough." I retorted carelessly.

"Princess Yuffie, the airship is ready to fly." the pilot interrupted.

I turned and exited the building, barging past Kai and starting towards the airship.

"Yuffie, wait!" Kai grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Let go of me!" I spat sharply, ripping my arm away.

"Just listen! You can't go-"

"Lady, are you sure you want to do this?" the pilot asked.

"Yes I'm sure! Get on the damn airship!" I commanded. He began to walk towards it.

"No, she isn't sure! Stop there!" Kai told the man authoritatively. The pilot stopped.

"Excuse me, but you don't give the orders around here! I do!" I yelled at Kai, before turning to the pilot, "And I _ordered_ you to get on that airship and get ready to fly it!"

The pilot began to move again, but was stopped by Kai, again. "Don't you dare! Stop!" he said. The pilot stopped, glancing at each of us.

"For goodness sake! Who are you going to listen to?" I asked the pilot seriously, "And you better think about this answer _very _carefully!"

"Uh…" the poor guy looked incredibly nervous. "I…would follow your orders, Lady Yuffie." he gave Kai an apologetic look.

"Thank you! Wise choice!" I said, turning back to Kai, "I'm going! Tell Godo good riddance."

Kai grabbed my arm again. "Wait Yuffie, please. Don't leave." he blasted me with those eyes of his again, "I'm _so _sorry. I didn't mean anything I said. Please forgive me. Please don't go."

My resolve wavered as I gazed into his pleading eyes. He sounded so sincere…

"I-I can't stay here. I need to get out for a while. Please understand." I used my puppy dog eyes on him, and he caved.

He sighed, loosening his grip on my arm.

"Thank you." I said, hugging him.

"I'll miss you." he told me, wrapping his arms around my waist and squeezing gently.

I nodded in agreement, letting him go, to find he was smirking.

"Gotta leave you with something to remember me by, haven't I?" he asked rhetorically. I frowned.

"What do you-" I was cut off as his lips crushed mine. I made a small noise of surprise, but I slowly relaxed. He was a good kisser. I was slightly out of breath when he pulled back and smiled at me.

"Hurry back." he said.

"I will."

-x-

Half an hour later, it turned out I hadn't managed to hold down my stomach contents. My stomach heaved and I spewed up again in the bucket I was holding.

I hate airships.

They were faster than helicopters though, so I'd deal with it if I could be back in Edge quickly.

"Almost there, Princess." A female crew member soothed.

I nodded, too weak to speak. "Seventh Heaven." I managed to mumble. She nodded.

"I'll tell the pilot to drop you off as close as we can." she said kindly, leaving the room.

'She was nice.' I thought absently. My stomach growled, seeming to disagree.

"Ugh…"

Thankfully, I felt the ship land with a jolt that made my stomach _extremely _upset. But it was over. I was in Edge. Thank you, Leviathan, for letting me survive this terrible ordeal. I took a shaky breath, before I put aside the puke bucket and stood up.

I thanked the pilot and the small crew as I staggered off the ship. I hated them, I really did. Did I already mention that? I hate airships.

I stumbled along the streets, earning me strange looks. Pfft. Whatever. I wasn't that far away from the Seventh Heaven now. I couldn't wait to see Tifa, and Cloud, and Vincent. Duh. He was the reason I was back in the first place.

I flung open the double doors in what I hoped was a dramatic entrance. The patrons looked at me weirdly.

"I need a drink!" I announced to the room at large. Tifa laughed from behind the counter.

"You've come to the right place!" she said, chuckling, "Welcome back Yuffie! Come sit down!"

I did as she said more than willingly. I sank onto one of the bar stools in relief, glad it soothed my poor tummy. "I'd like a rum and coke please." I told Tifa.

"Coming up." she replied, grabbing a glass from underneath the counter. "So how have you been?" she asked while pouring.

I groaned loudly. "Oh, don't even get me started! I was only dragged away from this place to go to a tea party, and Leviathan, what a fiasco that was! Kai's mother, Ayatsu, is _such_ a cow!"

Tifa frowned as she set the drink in front of me. "What did she do to offend you?"

I made a noise of incredulity, "What _didn't_ she do to offend me? She was so awful to me! She said the maids were useless, made out that I was uncultured, and worst of all she insulted my mother."

Tifa gasped. "Oh no she didn't!"

"She so did!" I responded, before drinking half of my rum and coke quickly and setting it back down with a loud plunk. "I couldn't believe the audacity of that woman."

"So what did you do?" she asked curiously.

"I slapped her."

"Good." she said with a tone of conviction. I laughed.

The door opened, and I turned to see who it was.

"Vincent!" I greeted, smiling widely.

"Yuffie?" He sounded slightly surprised.

"No, I'm her twin sister." I rolled my eyes, "Duh, of course it's me."

Vincent walked over and sat on the stool next to me. "I was talking to you over the phone just a few hours ago, and you were in Wutai."

"Yeah well, I caught a fast airship over here, 'cos Kai was pissed off. He didn't appreciate me talking to you."

He frowned slightly and nodded. "I see."

"Would you like anything to drink Vincent?" Tifa asked, smiling.

"No thank you, Tifa." he replied, before turning back to me, "Will you be staying in Edge for a while?"

"Hell yes." I said. I was sure I saw a small smile on Vincent's face for a split second.

"You can stay here, if you'd like." Tifa told me, halfway through serving another customer.

"Thanks Teef, but all my things are still over at Vincent's…" I turned to him, smiling sweetly, "If you'll have me."

"Of course." he said quietly. I grinned at him.

"Thank you Vinnie!"

He nodded.

I kept forking out gil for more rum and cokes (I know, Tifa was making me _pay!_), and the afternoon merged quickly into the evening. Vincent was constantly warning me not to drink too much, or at least drink slower. I ignored him of course. I needed the alcohol to make me feel better; these last few months had been awful to me! Eventually though, he put his foot down.

"Yuffie, I think you've had enough." he said, taking the half-full glass from me.

"Hey! Give it back! I paid good money for that!" I said, outraged, trying to snatch the drink back.

He shook his head. "The money you have used to pay for this was probably stolen, but that's aside from the point. You've had too much to drink already."

"No I haven't! That only my…erm, fifth?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever. Just let me finish this one then…" I reached for the glass again.

"No Yuffie. We're going home now."

"Aw come on! I'm not even slurring my words yet! …Am I?"

He smirked ever so slightly. "Not yet, but you're almost there."

"Exactly. So half a glass will be fine."

Wordlessly, he set the glass on the counter out of my arms reach. I gawped. "Lets go Yuffie." he said, standing up.

"I'm finishing my drink!" I told him.

"No, you are not." he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me onto my feet.

"…What a waste! I expect half a rum and coke _free of charge _next time Tifa!" I called to her.

She chuckled. "Okay then Yuffie. 'Night!"

"See ya!" I grinned and waved.

The fresh air felt good, but not as good as Vincent's hand in mine. I held onto it a little tighter, and he looked at me questioningly, but didn't say anything.

"It's good to be back." I commented. He nodded.

"It's good to have you back." he agreed. I grinned.

"Yay! You missed me! Aw, thanks Vince, I missed you too!"

His lips turned up a little at the corners in the tiniest smile. I laughed.

"Made you smile." I said, making the tiny smile become a little bigger.

We walked hand in hand through the dark streets. The alcohol had done it's job, and I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. My brain was feeling a little fuzzy too actually, so I blame that for the stupid and embarrassing questions that came tumbling out of my mouth.

"Vinnie, do you think I'm pretty?" I asked. I wanted to know, and it just seemed logical to ask.

He looked at me, blinked, and then looked forward again.

"…Why do you ask?" he said.

"I'm curious."

He was silent for a few seconds, but then he must have realised I probably wouldn't remember much in the morning.

"Yes. You're beautiful." he answered, staring at the ground. I smiled, I'd never been told that before.

"So, would you go out with me?" I asked, before I remembered something, "If I wasn't married that is?" I added quickly.

"…I-I'd like to. Very much so. If you weren't married, of course."

I nodded thoughtfully as we walked up the stairs to his apartment on the second floor. This was very interesting news. We entered his apartment, not talking, each absorbed in our own thoughts.

"I wish I could get a divorce." I murmured, as though a solution would magically come to me if I said it out loud.

Vincent nodded, seeming to agree with me. He pulled me into the living room and switched on the light.

"Then I could be with you." I said, even quieter than my last statement. He turned to me with a sad expression in his eyes, and looked down at our joined hands. His human right hand, and my left, my wedding ring clearly visible.

He pulled his hand out of mine gently. Then he leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead.

"You should go to bed Yuffie." he whispered.

I nodded and escaped to the bedroom.

* * *

**Chapter 12, done. What did you think of it? Review if you have time, energy, and an opinion. **

** Next chapter there will be much more VincentxYuffie-ness, so I'll see you then. :) **

**Thank you for reading!**

**xoxo**


	14. Tempted

**Hi again. We have plenty of Yuffentine fluff in this chapter, which I'm sure you will be pleased about. So let's get on with it shall we? :)**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII, just in case you missed it the first...oh, 12 times now?**

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When I woke up, I had a faint (but throbbing) headache. I groaned and turned over, attempting to go back to sleep. My brain was having none of it though. Images of Kai flashed in front of my minds eye, along with all the bad things he did. I saw that glass shatter into hundreds of tiny pieces against the wall in slow motion, and wondered if I was half dreaming, still half asleep. I saw Vincent at my wedding, and the expression on his face when I wouldn't let him stop it. Vincent grabbing Kai and slamming him into the wall. Vincent's little smiles and smirks that only I could bring to his face. I saw him picking me up after Kai had left me outside of Kalm. I saw him carrying me to safety when I was wounded. Him healing me, and letting me sleep with him after my nightmare. I saw him leaning towards me, about to press his lips to mine…

My eyes snapped open.

He loved me.

I blinked rapidly. This epiphany stuff really was amazing. How could I be so clueless?

Vincent loved me.

I small smile spread it's way across my face. But it was quickly wiped of when I remembered Kai, and the wedding ring that was practically welded onto my finger. I sighed. Life was never simple was it?

I looked over at the clock; 5.40am. I made a frustrated noise and turned over again, pulling the duvet closer to my body. I closed my eyes, but my head was so jumbled up, I knew there was no chance I could go back to sleep.

With a defeated sigh, I sat up and threw the quilt off me. I stood up and stretched slowly, before walking over to the door that led to the living room. I opened it and entered as quietly as I could, so I wouldn't wake Vincent. I knew he was a light sleeper.

I needn't have bothered. The vampire was sat in one of his armchairs, staring into the dying embers in the fireplace. "How long have you been awake?" I asked softly. He turned his head in my direction slightly.

"A while." he replied, not really looking at me. I walked over and made myself comfortable in the other armchair. I stared at him questioningly. "I couldn't sleep." he said in explanation, before lifting his head and looking at me properly, "What about you? It's still quite early."

"I know. I couldn't sleep either." I responded.

"Unusual, considering the amount of alcohol you consumed last night." he said, smirking slightly.

"I didn't have _that _much." I argued, smiling sheepishly.

"…So how much do you remember?"

I thought back, trying to remember every little detail of the previous night. It took me a while longer to remember than the average person recalling something.

"You called me beautiful." I murmured, picking out the most significant detail, in my opinion.

Judging by the expression on Vincent's face, it was obvious he'd half hoped I wouldn't remember that, half hoped I would.

We fell silent for a while. I thought about Kai. Asking for a divorce was out of the question. It wasn't allowed. Not acceptable in Wutaian culture. It's not like he'd agree to it anyway. Divorce was strictly _forbidden_ to a member of the royal family. Even the word itself was taboo amongst the royal council.

I sighed and looked at Vincent, who looked up at me in return. His eyes were so gorgeous. The way he was looking at me…

"Vincent…" I took a deep breath, readying myself, "Do you love me?"

He blinked, totally caught off guard. That was a first. I almost smiled, seeing his expression. He shifted in his chair, obviously uncomfortable, "Yuffie…"

"Answer the question." I whispered, half afraid of what he might say.

He gazed at me uncertainly, staying silent. I pleaded with him using my eyes. He looked like he didn't know how to respond.

"I…I'll make you some breakfast." he stood up and wandered towards the kitchen. I would have laughed, had the situation not been so serious.

I followed him to the fridge. "Is that a yes?" I asked.

He didn't say anything. Instead he got out some bacon, since he knew it was my favourite breakfast material.

"Well, you're not saying no either…" I said, "So, it's a maybe?"

I could have sworn I heard him snigger. But Vincent Valentine doesn't do that.

"_Maybe?" _he repeated incredulously, "What kind of indefinite answer is that?"

"I dunno! You're not giving me one!"

He sighed. "Truthfully, my answer would hardly be appropriate."

"So it is a yes?" I asked eagerly.

"Did I say that?" He smirked.

"Stop answering my questions with questions!" I said irritably, "And wipe that annoying smirk off your face before I do it for you!"

"…And just how would you go about doing that?" he asked, his small smirk still present.

I mock glared at him.

"Exactly." he said, lighting the grill and putting the bacon on it.

"Just you wait Vinnie, I'll sneak garlic into your food one day." I said, laughing.

-x-

After breakfast, I brushed my hair and teeth, and got dressed. Vincent said we should go see Reeve to find out if he'd made any headway with decoding the rest of the remnants files. I argued, 'cos I wanted to go to the Seventh Heaven to drink that half a rum and coke Tifa _so _owed me. Vincent sensibly suggested we go to the WRO HQ, _then _go to Tifa's. I not so sensibly _insisted _that we go to Tifa's, _then_ the WRO. He agreed with me, knowing he wasn't going to win.

I was overjoyed, mainly because I hadn't had company to do things I wanted to do in _too _long. It was nice to have a companion, and as quiet as he was, Vinnie was a pretty cool companion. Kai never did anything with me, so it made a nice change.

I skipped merrily down the street, grinning at every random citizen I passed. They gave me lots of weird looks. When I looked back at Vincent, he looked faintly amused.

"You not embarrassed to walk down the street with me Vince?" I asked playfully. He shook his head.

"Not at all Yuffie." he replied, "Really, it should be the other way around."

It took a second to get what he meant, but then I gave him a disapproving look. "Why would _I _be embarrassed about _you_?"

He quirked an eyebrow at me, as though the answer was obvious. I looked him up and down, then rolled my eyes. "Vinnie, that's just how you are. I accepted your anti-social attitude and bad fashion sense years ago." I told him.

He didn't reply. I laughed.

"See what I mean?" I asked. His lips twitched up a little at the corners.

I burst into the Seventh Heaven in a similar way I had yesterday, announcing that Tifa owed me half a drink to the whole bar.

"I was kinda hoping you'd forget." Tifa said, "It's only half a rum and coke anyway."

"Tifa, I paid for that half too! Just give me the damn drink woman!" I said.

She gave me one. I sipped it slowly, making it last. No way was I paying for any drinks today. Freebies all round, I thought. It would bring in more customers for sure.

"Why do you never drink any alcohol Vince?" I asked him.

He shrugged a shoulder just slightly. I frowned. When other people were around him, he seemed _really_ anti-social. He gave off this I-don't-want-to-talk-to-anyone-so-don't-even-bother-trying-to-talk-to-me kinda aura. But when it was just me, I noted with some surprise, he seemed to come out of his shell a bit more.

"Why?" I jabbed him in the shoulder, trying to get him to answer.

He sighed, face blank. "…It's bad for you."

"Wow, that was a lengthy answer." I said.

He gave no response. I shook my head, giving up.

"Perhaps we should go see Reeve now." He said. It wasn't a question. He expected me to comply, and I did, just 'cos he was looking at me in that certain way. Ah, he has such pretty eyes.

"Yeah okay." I downed the rest of my half drink and smiled at Tifa. "Thanks Teef, we'll be off now."

She waved, talking to someone on the phone. Cloud, I'd bet. I grinned. "Tell chocobo head to hide his materia in some challenging places, 'cos the Great Materia Hunter Yuffie is back in town!"

Tifa laughed and rolled her eyes, proceeding to tell Cloud to hide his materia somewhere safe.

Heh, no materia was safe, when I was around. In fact, I hadn't got my hands on some in a while. Sorta made me want to steal some. I looked at Vincent, smiling. As we left he gave me a look as if to say 'I know what you're thinking and I know exactly where and which type all my materia is, so don't even bother'. I grinned sheepishly.

-x-

Reeve couldn't tell us much. We had no idea where the remnants had relocated to, and the files weren't helping either. Reeve said he'd already squeezed everything he could out of them, the rest were apparently damn near impossible to decode.

"I do have something I want you to investigate though." he told us. I perked up in interest, since my head had previously been resting on my hand in boredom.

"Ooh! What? What is it? What what what?" I asked, hoping it would include lots of action.

Reeve smiled good-naturedly. "There have been quite a few unexplained disappearances in Costa del sol. Tourists just seem to be vanishing into thin air, and no one can figure out what's going on. So the WRO volunteered to help, and I said I'd send the best I've got."

I gasped. "Get out! Quit messing with me Reeve! We're going to Costa del sol?"

"Yes. You and Vincent will investigate the disappearances on behalf of the WRO."

I squealed in delight.

"Sorry Vincent." he muttered, throwing the man an apologetic look. Costa del sol wasn't Vinnie's favourite place in the world, because it was mine. Well, second to Wutai of course.

"Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod!" I stood up and bounced on the balls of my feet a few times to show my glee. Vincent didn't look half as enthusiastic.

"Come on Vince, cheer up! This is gonna be the best mission _ever!_" I exclaimed, clapping like a seal. "When do we leave?" I asked Reeve.

"As soon as you can." he replied, "either tonight or tomorrow would be ideal."

"Lets go tonight! Please Vinnie? Oh please please please?" I hopped from one foot to the other with a pleading expression on my face.

Vincent sighed. "Alright Yuffie."

"Yay! Lets go then!" I rushed towards the door, "Bye Reeve!" I threw a glance at him over my shoulder, before tumbling through his office door at high speed.

"Goodbye Yuffie." he called, sounding amused. I heard Vincent following after me, like usual.

"Yuffie, you do realise we will have to travel by airship to get to Costa del sol." he said evenly. I stopped dead, looking back at him with an OTT horrified expression. Damn, I hadn't thought about that.

"The WRO doesn't own an airship…do we?" I asked, puzzled.

"We do actually, Reeve bought one and hired a crew a year ago." he told me.

"Damn." I said. Vincent smirked a little.

"I assume you will be in no hurry to get on an airship, so slow down." he said, just as he caught up to me.

I sighed in defeat. "Fine. Way to rain on my parade Vinnie." I said, pouting.

He paused for a second. I was about to ask him what was wrong, when he took my hand and then continued walking.

"I apologise Yuffie." he said sincerely.

I was surprised, but I couldn't help but smile. "Nothing to apologise for Vinnie."

We walked hand in hand the rest of the way back to his apartment, earning us even more weird looks from random people on the streets. I couldn't care less.

"We better get packing." I announced when Vincent had unlocked the door. He made a quiet noise of agreement.

It didn't take that long for Vincent to pack a duffel bag, but it took me ages to decide whether or not to pack a bikini. I'd never felt self conscious before, but…in light of recent events, I wasn't sure. Well, it _was_ only Vincent. I still wanted to look good though. So…yeah, I'll pack the polka dot one. Wait, no. That one's too bright for Vinnie's taste. The black one would be better…whoa hold on, why am I trying to impress him anyway? I made a frustrated sound and threw them both on the floor. If I wanted a swimsuit, I'd buy one at Costa del sol. And I wouldn't take Vincent's opinion into account either.

I sat on my suitcase in order to zip it up, then I dragged it into the living room with a fair bit of difficulty.

"I'm finished!" I declared loudly to Vincent, who was sat at the dining table. He nodded.

"We don't have to leave for about an hour yet. Reeve said the airship would be ready and waiting outside the HQ at six." he told me.

I made a noise of understanding and sat down next to him.

It was then I remembered Vincent still hadn't answered my question from this morning. How could I forget such an important question?

"Oh! Vinnie! You still haven't answered the question I asked you this morning!" I gave him a disapproving look.

He looked puzzled for a second, but then he grimaced slightly. He obviously wished I had forgotten about it.

"C'mon Vinnie, just say yes or no!" I encouraged. He shook his head.

"It is not that simple, Yuffie." he replied. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I had an epiphany early this morning, and I've been looking for confirmation ever since. So, do you want me to ask again?"

Vincent leaned across the table towards me, and I froze.

"Yuffie," he murmured, "why is this so important to you?"

I blinked, taken aback. That was a good question.

Before I could come up with an answer, Vincent spoke, "…Would you…leave Kai, if I said yes?"

I leaned back, away from him, "I can't do anything either way." I told him, "I can't divorce him."

Vincent leaned back too. "…Then why do you want to know?"

I bit my lip. "Let me break down my question into lots of smaller ones, okay? Firstly, why are you so nice to me? You don't seem to really care about anyone, yet you tried to stop the wedding because you thought I wasn't 'happy' about it. And you let me stay here with you, because Kai was being…malicious. Why did you pick me up when he left me stranded? Why don't you mind when I hold your hand? Why did you…do everything you've done for me Vinnie? I think I _know _why. But you won't say it."

I gazed at me. I waited, wondering if he'd say anything at all. He sighed, as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"You already know why." he answered, "But I won't say it. I can't, for obvious reasons."

I nodded slowly. "Oh." was all I said.

This wasn't _fair! _I'd had a crush on Vincent since I was sixteen. That's _five years _I've been hoping and praying he'd get over Lucrecia and love _me. _And when he finally does, I'm already taken by a workaholic with serious anger issues. And Vincent has lost someone he loves to another, _again. _

It just…wasn't fair.

I blinked, and was surprised when I felt a drop of something wet trail down my cheek. I blinked again, and more salt water came oozing from my eyes, followed by some choked sobs that escaped my throat.

Vincent stood up and walked over to me quickly. "Yuffie, what's wrong?"

"It's not fair!" I wailed, sobbing some more.

"What's not fair?" he asked, looking quite confused as he crouched down next to me.

I covered my face with my hands in an attempt to hide the tears. "I c-can't b-be with you when I've b-been waiting so long…" I managed to get out the words between trembling lips.

"Yuffie…" Vincent gently plucked me off my chair and sat back down on his own, pulling me down onto his lap.

"Shh." he soothed. I only cried harder. Why did I have to be stuck with Kai? I wanted _Vincent._

He rubbed my back with his claw, trying to calm me down. After a few minutes of this, he decided it wasn't working.

"Yuffie." he murmured. I looked up at him, trying to be quiet. "My answer to your question is yes."

That shut me up. I froze in shock, not sure what to say.

"…I _knew_ it." I muttered.

Vincent smiled. It was a small smile, but still. "Yes, apparently it is rather obvious."

That made me smile. "I only figured it out because I had a dream. My subconscious told me in the end."

Without warning, Vincent leaned down and put his lips on mine. It couldn't be called a kiss. It lasted only a split second. He just brushed his lips against mine lightly, as if to discover their texture, before quickly pulling away again. It's a good thing I didn't blink, or I'd have missed it.

He looked at me apprehensively, waiting for my reaction.

I honestly couldn't help myself. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up in his lap, before I leaned in and pressed our lips together again, properly this time. His lips were really soft, and really warm. Tasted nice too. I felt his arms tighten around me, pulling me closer. It felt like my body was cold, but my insides were warm. It was a strange sensation, but I liked it. I came to the conclusion that Vincent's kisses were far better than Kai's…

I pulled back swiftly, knowing that the guilt was plastered all over my face.

"Oh god, that shouldn't have happened." I whispered. I jumped off his lap and started pacing around the table. "Oh no, oh no, oh no…"

"Yuffie." Vincent stood up and caught my hand, stopping my second journey around the table. "I know that shouldn't have happened, but it's too late now. There's no point in worrying about it. No one will find out."

I concentrated on breathing evenly for a few seconds. Vincent was right. There was no use in panicking. No one else would ever know. I looked around guiltily, just to make sure there was no one hiding behind the curtains or something.

"Yeah." I agreed, relaxing. He nodded in approval.

Yeah, no one had to know. Well, except maybe Kai…but there was no way on Gaia I was going to tell him. Not after last time.

"Um, that…that can't happen again." I said firmly, "It won't will it?"

Vincent gazed at me for a few seconds, before shaking his head.

Yeah, right. Like we both believed that.

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**Okay. This feels...off somehow. Maybe it runs too quickly? I dunno. Hope you liked it anyway.**

**So, next chapter we shall be in Costa del sol. Break out the swim suits and sun glasses. Don't forget sun cream! :D I'll see you then. **

**Thank you for reading!**

**xoxo**


	15. The Costa del Sol Conspiracy Part I

**Hey guys. There are two parts to this chapter, 'cos I wanted to put quite a lot in. So instead of creating one really long one, I split it into two. Hope you don't mind. **

**I shall have to reply to anonymous people here: **

**Ski October: you didn't sign in, so I'll just have to reply here. Erm, don't you have two accounts? :S I'm not sure if the replys I send are to two different people, or just you. Ah, so confusing! Anyway, thank you for reviewing! It's much appreciated. :) ****Rin: Don't worry, I **_**will **_**complete this story. I never give myself deadlines, so updates will seem kinda random, but I'll try to get a chapter out every week, yes? No promises though. I'm glad you liked the last chapter anyway. And thanks for reviewing!**

**On with the chapter! I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

"Yuffie, we are here to work. Not to sunbathe."

"Oh c'mon Vinnie! We can't investigate anything 'till the sun sets anyway! _Please_ can we go to the beach?"

Vincent sighed. We were walking around trying to find a hotel to stay in, and we'd been having this same argument since landing in Costa del Sol about half an hour ago, and neither of us were backing down.

"Why don't _you_ go to the beach, and _I _will stay in the hotel room?" Vincent said, trying to reason with me. Of course I was having none of it.

"No Vince, you have to come too! I like the company, and you'll stop any pervy guys eyeing me up in my swimsuit." I argued, "And we _are_ getting a five star hotel room this time, I don't care about Reeve's stupid budget."

"If we get a room in a five star hotel, will you go to the beach by yourself?"

"I will do no such thing Vinnie. You're coming with."

Vincent frowned a little, frustrated. I grinned.

"We will continue this debate another time. For now let's just concentrate on finding a hotel." he said.

"Whatever you say Vince." I replied, grin still in place. I was pretty confident I was going to win this 'debate'. I had a new secret weapon I could use against him, after all.

He eyed me suspiciously, before shaking his head disapprovingly.

"We _can_ get a five star one right?" I asked.

"…You realise we'll have to share a room in order to stick to the budget, if we do?" he informed me.

Ah, well, that could be awkward. I decided to be offhand about it though; "Yeah, yeah. We used to share all the time when we were off saving the planet way back when."

Vincent smiled a little. "Alright then."

I grinned even wider. "Awesome! It has to have a mini bar. And gorgeous furnishings of course. And my bed _must _have Wutainese silk sheets. Or the really nice linen ones that you have…"

"I doubt we will be able to find a hotel that could meet a Princess' demands." he said, smirking slightly.

"Hey! Are you trying to say I'm spoilt?"

"No Yuffie." he said, but he sounded patronising to me. I narrowed my eyes.

"Good answer vampy."

He shot me a look that wasn't quite a glare, but wasn't exactly friendly either. He hated when I called him that.

"Well, you are the one agreeing to my demands." I told him smugly, "Therefore you are the one responsible for spoiling me. So you can't talk."

He thought for a moment. "…I suppose you deserve to be spoilt."

I was surprised; I'd expected him to come back with a witty retort that I would have a response to and so on. Instead I smiled.

"Of _course_ I do." I mumbled, taking his arm, "And this gorgeous little thing hanging off your arm right now wants some materia of her choosing Vinnie."

Vincent looked down at me with a small smile on his face and amusement evident in his eyes. I suddenly had a strong urge to reach up on my tip toes and kiss him.

I broke the eye contact same time he did, both of us looking in opposite directions awkwardly. I slowly released his arm.

"Um, hey, how about this hotel?" I asked, coming to stop outside a really fancy looking one, complete with a doorman and everything.

Vincent nodded and we both stepped inside, the doorman nodding to us both politely as we passed.

"Oh, I like this one Vinnie." I told him, gazing around appreciatively. He nodded in agreement.

I walked up to the welcome counter and asked for one room with two single beds. Naturally, the receptionist was an attractive blond woman, who was all dazzling white smiles as she handed me the key to room number 23. I smiled a little patronisingly as I took them from her and headed to the elevator. Stupid good looking receptionist…

But Vincent never even spared her a glance, and I tried to ignore the warm feeling inside it gave me. I couldn't help but smile though. I stepped into the elevator along with Vincent, and pressed the triangular 'up' button.

"What are you smiling about?" Vincent asked, a trace of curiosity in his tone.

My smile grew wider. "Oh, nothing." He raised an eyebrow at me, as if questioning my mental state. I giggled.

But then the elevator started moving, and the smile slipped from my face as I grabbed onto the silver coloured bar securely bolted on around the sides. I really don't like elevators…

"It's okay." Vincent told me gently, taking my hand. I nodded, keeping my mouth firmly shut. I hurried out of the elevator on the next floor, where our room was supposed to be.

"I hate elevators." I commented, throwing a scathing look at the thing over my shoulder. Vincent said nothing, choosing instead to rub my knuckles with his thumb comfortingly.

"Aha! It's this one! There had better be nice sheets on the beds, or there will be hell to pay…" I let my voice trail off as I inserted the key and unlocked the door.

I may have discovered Heaven on Gaia. It was _gorgeous! _How come I've never got to stay in a five star hotel before? It had everything I wanted. Stylish furnishings, check. Mini bar, check. And… "Oh my god! Vincent, we have a _Jacuzzi!_" I squealed.

Vincent sighed, shaking his head as I bustled from room to room, admiring everything. I came to the last room- the bedroom I presumed -and _really _hoped it had soft linen sheets…

I opened the door, and made a noise of vexation. Instead of the two single beds I had asked for, there was just one double. And by the look of it, the sheets were _cotton. _Dumb blonde receptionist…not that I believe in stereotypes, it's just that she's annoyed me quite a bit.

"What's wrong Yuffie?" I heard Vincent ask from the other room.

"I asked for two singles and we've got a double." I explained. "So now I'm gonna go down and give that receptionist what for."

Vincent grabbed my wrist as I tried to walk past him. "It's okay Yuffie, I'll sleep on the sofa. There's no point kicking up a fuss."

"I'm not gonna kick up a fuss." I said, widening my eyes innocently, "I'm just gonna tell her she's an idiot, amongst some other mild insults, and demand she give us another room."

"That's not necessary." he tried to reason with me, "We'll both be able to sleep here just fine. And besides, I thought you liked this room?"

I pouted. "Yeah…it has a Jacuzzi."

Vincent smiled slightly. "You see? So we'll stay here. There's no point asking for another room."

I smiled back. "Okay then. Um…Vince?"

He looked at me questioningly.

"After we've unpacked…can we go to the beach?"

-x-

Vincent wasn't happy. That much was clear. He gave off a really sullen aura as I dragged him down the street.

"I don't understand why I have to come." he said, sounding unimpressed.

"Because you need some sun on that pale skin." I said, "I'm guessing you're not going to change into anything cooler?"

He didn't even dignify that question with an answer. I rolled my eyes. "Of course not." I mumbled as I pulled him into a shop close to the beach.

"Well _I'm _gonna change into something cooler." I told him, "And you're gonna wait here while I find a nice swimsuit, okay?"

He sighed and nodded.

"Stay here." I commanded firmly, before leaving him in the middle of the shop while I went to find a decent swimming costume.

Hmm…that one looks pretty. I picked the swimsuit up and examined it interestedly. Purple though…not really my colour. Oh! There's a green bikini! Yeah I like this one, but the purple one's really nice too-

My thoughts were cut off as I saw a tall figure in red and black moving towards the exit. I hurried after it, both items still in hand.

"Vinnie Valentine!" I jumped out from behind a rack of coats, "Don't you dare try to sneak off!"

He made a frustrated noise, unhappy he'd been caught. I folded my arms irritably. "You're coming to the beach with me whether you like it or not! Now, I need to go try these on and you're gonna wait right here…wait, no you're not." I grabbed his claw hand and pulled him towards the changing rooms.

"Yuffie…I can't go in there." he pointed out.

"No, but you can sit on that chair just outside and _don't move._" I warned, sitting him down.

He sighed. "Fine."

"I mean it Vinnie! Don't you dare try to escape back to the hotel room! I'll be two minutes." I told him as I stepped inside the cubicle and drew the curtain across.

I stripped off and tried on the purple swimming costume. It looked good, I decided with glee. It showed off a lot of my back, but it was just the colour…

I took it off and slipped on the other one. Ah, this was more like it. Green looked good on me. The bikini had pretty, brightly coloured floral patterns on it too. Yes, I like this one. Not a bad price either.

I wonder what Vincent would think of it? Hehehehe…

"Vinnie? You'd better still be in that chair…"

I heard him make a noise of assent.

"Good, 'cos I need your opinion." I said. Yeah, I know I said I wouldn't take his opinion into account, but I just can't resist seeing his reaction. I pulled back the heavy curtain and stepped out. "What do you think?"

I smiled when I saw his eyes widen, before he coughed once and looked away, choosing to look at the floor instead. "I'm sure my opinion is useless." he said uncomfortably. I grinned, enjoying watching him squirm.

"Well, it's either this one or the purple swimming costume, and I can't choose. So do you like this one?"

He glanced at me before clearing his throat, "I'm not the best person to ask."

I put my hands on my hips, "Do you want me to try on the purple one, so you can see?"

I am _sure _he blushed, if only faintly. I bit my tongue to refrain from giggling.

"That won't be necessary." he said quickly, before looking up at me again, "…I think the green one suits you."

I blinked, surprised. "Really? I'd have thought you'd prefer the darker one."

"I think the brightest one is the best one for you."

"Huh. Okay then, the green one it is." I said, going back into the cubicle and closing the curtain.

I decided to put on my normal clothes over the bikini, so I pulled off the tags to hand over the counter.

"Yuffie?" Vincent said, not bothering to raise his voice to make sure I'd hear.

"Mm hm?

"…Why does my opinion on your attire matter?" he asked.

It was my turn to blush this time. "Um…because I couldn't choose which one I wanted, so I needed a second opinion." Phew, nicely saved Yuffie.

"Ah, I see." I heard him murmur. He knew. I knew he knew. He wouldn't call me on it though.

-x-

I sighed happily. This was the life. The sun was bating down ruthlessly upon all the beach's residents, and I was soaking it up blissfully.

"Vince, surely you're frying up. Won't you at least take your cloak off?" I asked, peaking up at him with one eye.

I saw him shake his head. He was sat on the sand with his legs stretched out in front of him, only he was resting his arm on his knee. He always sat like that. I had a sudden urge to mimic him to see if it was comfortable. Then I decided I was feeling too hot and lethargic to move.

"But Vinnie, _I'm _almost uncomfortably hot just in my bikini, so you must be _dying _in that."

He didn't reply and made a point of _not _looking at me. I giggled. "What's wrong Vince?" I asked in an innocent tone. Or as innocent as I could make it anyway.

"...Nothing." he responded, closing his eyes. I giggled silently again.

"Vinnie, seriously, I plan to stay here for a while, and you ain't leaving until I do. So I suggest you make yourself as comfy as possible." I tugged on the hem of his cloak. "Take this damn thing off. You're gonna get dehydrated, or sunstroke, or both."

He sighed heavily, glaring up towards the sky as though it had offended him, before he began to undo the buckles on his cloak.

"Thank you! You'll feel much better and I'll be right. As always." I said, closing my eyes. I was sure I heard him give a quiet snort. "Hey! Ninja's _are_ always right! Except that time I thought Cid wouldn't mind if I tried to make some adjustments to the Highwind..." My voice trailed off weakly, remembering the _humongous _hissy fit he'd thrown when he found me in the engine room, tinkering with all the cog wheels and stuff there.

"You should have known better." Vincent said, "You probably would have made the engines malfunction and brought the whole ship down."

I giggled. "That would have been pretty epic though." I commented, "And I was only trying to make the damn airship run a little smoother!"

Vincent made a noise of amusement and I opened my eyes to look at him. He was laying on his cape next to me, one arm tucked behind his head, claw arm by his side. I smiled and threaded my fingers with those of his claw. He opened his eyes and looked down at our joined hands, smiling a little himself.

"Can you feel that?" I asked curiously, squeezing his claw lightly.

"Not really." he said, sounding nonchalant, "It's just like a particularly thick glove. I can't _feel _anything unless there's a certain amount of pressure."

"Hm." I made a noise to show I understood, though I didn't really. Not for the first time, I cursed Hojo to oblivion, and hoped sincerely he was rotting in hell.

Vincent closed his eyes again, and I did the same, shuffling closer to him and resting my head on his shoulder.

"Vinnie? I know you probably don't want to talk about it..." I started. I felt him tense slightly, waiting. "But...how can we be sure Hojo's _really _dead? I mean, I know he doesn't have a body anymore, but didn't he scatter his mind into all those computer systems? How can you possibly _kill _that? Wouldn't there still be traces of his mind left? Gawd this sounds so weird..."

Vincent was silent for a while. I hoped I hadn't upset him, but then he spoke; "You...may have a point there. Hojo was using Weiss' body, but Nero became one entity with his brother when they entered the Lifesteam, do you remember? So he tainted it and Hojo could no longer control him, nor the power of Omega. But you're right...his mind, could perhaps still be travelling in cyber space."

I nodded. "But he can't do any more harm right? He's just like, a wandering set of pixels now. Should we get Reeve to send out a specialised virus to hunt him down, just to make sure?"

He chuckled a little. "I will have to ask him if he can."

"Of course he can." I mumbled, "He's a regular computer geek, our Reeve..."

Vincent chuckled again. I smiled, eyes still closed. This was nice. I relaxed into the warmth of the sun, sand, and Vincent, and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

**Right, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in just a few days. You'll have to be patient with me though, 'cos I can't use my laptop. :'( For some reason, FanFiction isn't letting me submit any documents from it, so I had to type it all out again on my grandad's computer. Sigh. Oh well, hope you enjoyed it.**

**And I have a question. Well, a few questions. Does anyone know if Hojo is 100 percent, well and truly, no-way-is-it-possible-he-can-ever-come-back _dead_? I know his body is dead and gone. But he somehow scattered his mind into cyber space right? So...he's not entirely dead? Can someone explain this to me please? _I'm _confused; what do you think happened to him?**

**Anyway, since I had to type this up on a different computer, I couldn't use Microsoft Word. I've looked over it, but if you spot any punctuation/spelling/grammar mistakes, please let me know.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	16. The Costa del Sol Conspiracy Part II

**Okay...I dunno what time it is wherever you are in the world right now, but it's rather late over here in the U.K. *Mega yawn* Sooo tired...so if my A/N's make no sense, I apologise.**

**Anonymous reviews; Ski October: Ah, right! I **_**thought**_** you had two accounts, but I wasn't sure. I'll remember that. Thank you for reviewing, anyway! :D**

**Rin: Aw, thanks! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, hopefully you'll like this one too. Thank you for reviewing!**

**For some reason, my really pleasant dreams almost always turn into really scary nightmares. So the first part is inspired by said dreams/nightmares. ****Present tense first, then we revert back to the past 'kay? I do that for dreams.**

**Now let's get on with it. I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

I'm floating. Well, not so much as floating, as…_bobbing. _Huh. Like a buoy on water. I look down, and sure enough, water is lapping at my bare feet. But there's a surface underneath it. I bend down to see, and it looks like metal. Weird. I frown and look up; more metal for a ceiling. I look around slowly, and see four metal walls surrounding me. _Okay…_

I walk forward leisurely, the slow bobbing motion making me feel calm and relaxed. This water really feels nice, just the right temperature. I touch one wall of metal, but it doesn't look like it will open, nor move. I gaze around again; no signs of a door. I sigh and move to each of the walls sluggishly, pushing against them, but there seems to be no way out. I look down at myself to see if I have any tools I can use, but I'm wearing nothing except some white shorts and a khaki green tank top.

Oh well. I kinda like this metal box. It's warm in here, and the water made relaxing sounds, like waves. And instead of making me feel sick, the bobbing made my tummy feel all fluttery. I smile and close my eyes, revelling in the feel of the water caressing my legs.

Wait…my legs?

I open my eyes and look down. Instead of swirling around my ankles, the water has risen to just below my knees.

Okay, I'm a little scared now. Where could the water be coming from? This box is sealed tight.

I hear a gurgling sound and the box gives a heavy lurch, as if a large wave had just struck it. I stumble, but manage to stay upright. Only now the water level is above my knees, churning around my thighs. I begin to feel a little claustrophobic. I don't like this, I don't like it one bit! I want to get out!

I try to calm myself. Panicking would do me no good. Okay Yuffie, you can get outta this, easy. Ninja's are master escape artists! I look up at the ceiling for an opening, but there is none. I look around quickly.

Oh, now I can see a door. Only it's clamped shut, and this door belongs to an elevator.

Turns out this 'metal box' wasn't innocent enough to just be a metal box after all. Oh god, I hate elevators.

"No!" I yell, starting to pound on the door, "Someone help me! Let me out!"

The elevator jerks again. I lose my balance, falling on my butt into the water, successfully drenching myself up to my neck. I stand up, and the water is past my hips now. I hear that gurgling sound again, and the water starts pouring in from the ceiling, seemingly _through _the roof. A torrent of rain pours down on me, soaking me completely. I gasp and splutter, blinking rapidly to try and clear the water from my eyes. The water level is rising fast now.

Desperate, I claw at the door, trying to prise it open. Oh please, someone, help me. The water is churning around my shoulders now, making it difficult for me to move. It's cold…

Pain shoots through my fingers, and I see I've been clawing at the metal a little too forcefully. I bring my hands to up to examine them, and notice my finger nails are in a bloody mess. It stings…

I open my mouth to scream for help again, but I find myself choking. I tilt my head up, trying to breathe, but the water is swirling around my neck and chin mercilessly. I'm not tall enough; the water envelops me, and I squeeze my eyes shut. I try to swim upward, but my limbs feel like lead. My lungs are burning…I can't breathe…my shoulder hurts.

"Yuffie!"

I gasped as my eyes snapped open. Vincent was shaking my shoulder lightly.

"Are you alright? I think you were having a nightmare." he said, smoothing my damp hair away from my face.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't drowning.

"It's okay." he soothed, "You're safe."

I nodded, not quite having sufficient air in my lungs to be able to talk.

"You fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake you…but the tide is coming in." he explained.

I sat up slowly, still a little disorientated. He was right, the waves were quite close to touching my toes. Most people had left the beach now. I looked up, to see the sun was low in the sky.

"It's almost sunset." I said, sounding a little hoarse. I cleared my throat, "We should prepare for our mission."

Vincent nodded. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a silly nightmare." I tried to stand up, but he caught my arm.

"What was it about? Do you…want to talk about it?" he asked. I quirked an eyebrow.

"Vince, are you feeling okay?" I reached out and pressed my palm to his forehead; it felt quite warm even through his headband, "The heat got to you didn't it?" I asked.

He snorted and stood up, and I stood too. "You were mumbling about elevators…" he gave me a concerned look.

"Oh. Yeah. It-it was a different nightmare this time…it was filled with water…"

Vincent closed the gap between us and pulled me into his arms. I was shocked, but it wasn't that I minded too much. "What was filled with water? The elevator?" he asked.

I nodded into his chest. "It was filling up with water really fast, and I couldn't get out…" I told him, lifting my hand to look at it, just to make sure my fingernails were completely intact.

Vincent squeezed my waist to show sympathy. "Don't worry, it was just a dream."

I sighed, resting my head on his chest and closing my eyes. He smelled wonderful. Of cinnamon…and peaches? And gunpowder. A strange combination, but it worked; the sweet and the sour blended perfectly.

I smiled upon realising he was rubbing soothing circles into my back. I looked up at him and grinned widely, before I reached up and pecked him on the lips as innocently as I could. As if a married woman could give perfectly _innocent_ kisses to anyone except her husband. Oh, and the innocence was further ruined by the small fact that I was only in a bikini. But whatever.

"Thanks Vince." I murmured, pulling away from him so he wouldn't see my blush, "C'mon, let's get back to the hotel."

I snuck a glance at him as I began walking. He was looking at me in that way again, that certain way that made my insides turn to jelly. I looked purposefully ahead, praying to Leviathan my legs would support me.

-x-

"Why is it _cold_? It's Costa del Sol! It should be hot all the time!" I complained (not for the first time), rubbing my arms in an attempt to warm them up.

Vincent didn't reply, instead concentrating on the dark street ahead of us.

"I mean, even at night the temperature should still be high-"

"Yuffie, please be quiet. We may miss something important." Vincent interrupted.

"…Fine." I said, pouting.

I don't even know what we were looking for, but I'm sure we'd know when we found it. According to Reeve, there'd been eyewitness reports of people in hooded robes sneaking around lately. That sounds awfully familiar.

"Do you reckon it's the remnants?" I asked in a whisper, "I hope so; I never did get them back for injuring me…"

"It's probable." he replied quietly.

"Good. Then I can find their boss and kick his or her butt, and then they'll all be in complete disarray without a leader, and then-"

"Shh. I think I can hear something." Vincent cut me off, holding his hand up to silence me. I stopped walking when he did, straining to hear anything he might have. Naturally, I couldn't.

"I can't hear anything." I whispered.

Vincent frowned. "It sounds like…"

Suddenly a high pitched scream pierced the quiet night, and myself and Vincent set off running towards the general direction of it. Down a few alleyways, I skidded to a stop when I saw a small pool of blood. Well, it was either that or red paint. Unfortunately, I knew which it was most likely to be.

"Oh no…" I turned to Vincent with wide eyes. Were we too late?

"Follow the trail." he instructed. I turned my gaze back to the floor and did as he said, following the drops of blood as quickly as I could. It felt like it went on for miles, and I sincerely hoped this person was still alive.

"Vince," I said, staring at the last little speck of red on the floor, "it stops here."

Vincent looked around us, seeing if there was anywhere the person could have disappeared to. But the closest building was a multi-storey one that looked like it was used for business purposes.

Vincent glanced at me.

"Oh no, Vinnie. I am not breaking into that building." I told him firmly, backing away from said building.

"It's our best bet. We need to help that person."

I sighed. "Right. Of course. Erm…how?"

Vincent looked the building up and down. Through the glass double doors, I could see a reception type area. Probably had security guards patrolling it and everything. Vincent walked forward, and then punched through the glass with his claw. I gasped and covered my ears, expecting an alarm of some sort to go off. Apparently one didn't, as Vincent calmly unlocked the door from the inside and swung it open. I lowered my arms cautiously.

"You idiot! That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do!" I said, "What if a burglar alarm went off?"

"Then the remnants would not have been in this building." he answered, cool as ever.

"How did you know this was their building?"

"I didn't."

I snorted. "Right. Let's just go in yes?" I walked through the door, trying to avoid stepping on all the glass. Vincent followed me, un-holstering Cerberus.

Through the reception area, there was a large hallway, and (what a surprise) a lift. I sighed. "We have to use that elevator don't we?"

"Yes, sorry." Vincent said, putting a hand on the small of my back to make me walk forward. I groaned as we stepped inside.

"You'll be alright." he responded to my groan, as he pressed the 'down' button, even though the elevator was apparently on the ground floor. The elevator doors slid closed and it began to descend slowly. I pressed my lips together to stop myself from hurling.

The elevator came to a stop with a 'ping' I couldn't help but giggle at. Vincent looked at me in that way that questioned my mental state.

"Please bear in mind that we are supposed to be saving someone, who very well may be dead by now."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for putting it ever so tactfully."

The doors slid open, and I got ready to throw my Conformer in case anyone was waiting behind it. But the only thing I focused on was a woman, tied to a chair. She had long, blonde hair and beautifully tanned skin, but her appearance was somewhat ruined by her heavily bloodstained shirt. The woman was gagged, and tears were streaming from her eyes as she looked at me pleadingly. Without thinking, I rushed forward to help her.

That was my first stupid mistake.

I barely took two steps out of the elevator when something blunt hit me on the side of the head, and knocked me into a pile of cardboard boxes. I heard gunfire which I could tell was from Cerberus, so Vincent was okay. I wasn't though; blood was pouring into my eyes from my head wound. I wiped my eyes and jumped up, throwing my Conformer towards the nearest hooded figure, who wasn't expecting my attack and went down easily. I glanced around hastily as my Conformer travelled back to me. There were three hooded guys, not counting the two on the floor. Vincent was fighting two of them, and the other was too way close to the woman for my liking. I ran towards that one, throwing my Conformer towards he or she in the process. They turned around just in time to duck and avoid the attack. But I'd reached them by then, and manage to score a well placed kick in the figures face. There was a scream and the figure recoiled just as I twirled and caught my Conformer again. The remnants hood had slipped off, and I discovered it was a woman about the same age as me, with mid-length black hair tied in a pony tail. It also became obvious that I'd broke her nose. I smirked.

"Aw, I'm sorry, did that hurt?" I taunted, "Whoops."

She took the bait with a cry of rage, the remnant swung a morning star towards my head, which I dodged and swung my own weapon at her legs. She jumped back to avoid it, and I spared a glance for the woman still tied to the chair, just to make sure she was okay.

That was my second stupid mistake.

I caught a fast blur out of the corner of my eye, and raised my arm instinctively. There was a sickening snapping sound, and I gave an ear splitting scream as blood gushed from my left arm. It was most definitely broken. My arm was broken. "_Son of a bitch_!" I screamed. _Oh god, it hurts! _I blinked rapidly to rid my eyes of the blood and tears, to see the remnant smirking.

"Whoops." she said sarcastically. Pure fury flared inside me, numbing the pain momentarily. I swung my leg out low, and she blocked it with her arm. I managed to slice one blade of my Conformer through her wrist, severing her right hand from her arm, and _she _screamed this time.

I couldn't move my left arm, it was dangling by my side uselessly, but I daren't inspect it properly. Instead I concentrated on the remnant, and tried to focus on what she was saying.

"Your comrade is dead." she informed me coldly, with a small smile on her face. My eyes widened and I turned, trying to find Vincent.

That was my third, final, and _incredibly _stupid mistake.

I was knocked backwards by the force of the remnants spell. I couldn't even tell what it was, but it hurt like hell. I slammed into the wall before landing on the floor in a bloody heap, twisting my broken arm awkwardly.

"Vincent!" I screamed, out of pain and fear.

Crimson was all I saw, maybe it was blood. But there was this sound like wind blowing strongly, and a swooping sensation in my stomach. Was I dying? Was I dead already? The crimson blanket was removed, and I saw a familiar looking room.

'What the hell?' was my last coherent thought as everything went black.

-x-

I was very warm, and very comfortable. Not one muscle wanted to move, not one finger wanted to twitch. Was this what death was like? An everlasting, very comfortable sleep?

"Yuffie?" A soft voice called. I wanted to answer it. I tried to say 'yes', but all my voice box could manage was "ymmh".

"Open your eyes." the voice spoke again. I wanted to obey, so I did so. It took a while to unglue my eyelids, but I did it. The first thing I saw was the bedroom ceiling. Plain and white. Boring. I barely saw it anyway, 'cos it was dark. But the next thing I saw was much more interesting; Vincent was leaning over me.

"Good evening." he said, and I realised the voice I'd heard wasn't one of an angel, it was just his. Pretty damn close though, I thought.

"Evening?" I asked in a dry, cracked voice. I coughed, and suddenly a glass of water appeared in Vincent's hand. "Thanks." I said, taking it from him and attempting to sit up.

"Don't move your arm too much." he told me firmly. I winced and looked down at my left arm, expecting a bloody mess. But it was clean and obviously healed. I lifted it cautiously.

"Don't." he ordered, pushing it back down gently. I look small sips of my water as I looked around. We were back in our hotel room.

"How did we get back here?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"It's a demon thing." he explained at length.

"Okay…" I drank the rest of my water in silence. Damn, this bed was comfy. Even without nice expensive sheets.

"So…" I set down the glass on the bedside table, "You're not dead. That's good."

He nodded. "Hn. Neither are you. That's good."

I smiled. But then remembered something. "Vincent! What about that woman? Is she okay? What happened to the remnants?"

He looked apprehensive. "…I don't know."

"…You don't know?" I repeated incredulously, "What do you mean you don't know?"

He shifted in the chair he was seated in, next to the bed. "We killed three remnants. One seriously injured you, so I had to get you out."

"What about the woman?" I said slowly.

Vincent looked at the floor, "I left her."

I blinked. "Excuse me?" That didn't sound like him at all. He wouldn't do that.

"You were hurt, and obviously in so much pain I…" he trailed off for a moment, "You screamed for me, and I couldn't just ignore you." he reached out with his human hand and touched my cheek, "I thought you were dead for a moment there. That terrified me."

I exhaled shakily. "Oh."

He moved his hand away. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save her. I chose to save you."

I bit my lip. "I would have been fine." I mumbled.

"Maybe. I couldn't take that chance."

I looked at the quilt, suddenly fascinated by it. "Oh." I repeated.

An uncomfortable silence settled, and I scrambled for a change of subject. "So…um, how long have I been out?"

"Around twenty two hours." he answered. I looked at him.

"Woah, almost a day? Gawd…" I glanced over at the clock, which told me it was 23.14.

"Are _you _okay?" I asked him. He nodded.

"I am unharmed." he responded.

"Good…" I bit my lip again.

"You should try and rest some more, Yuffie." he said.

"I'm not really that tired, but I'll try." I settled down into the pillow and pulled the covers up to my chin. "You should get some rest too."

He shook his head. "I can go without sleep for tonight."

I frowned. "When was the last time you slept?" I asked reproachfully. He thought for a moment.

"About three days ago." he answered. I gaped at him.

"Vincent! That cannot be healthy!" I scolded. He shrugged.

"I don't need sleep. I'll be fine."

"Yeah? Well I can't take that chance." I said, using his own words against him. He sighed.

"Go to sleep Yuffie." he said. I shook my head and sat up.

"Not until you do." I replied stubbornly. He made a frustrated noise and walked around to the other side of the bed. He look off his shoes and cloak, and then slid into bed next to me.

"How about we both go to sleep at the same time?" he suggested with a small smile. I giggled a little.

"Fair enough." I said, sliding back under the duvet and closing my eyes.

Unfortunately, it became clear in the first few minutes that my brain didn't want to shut down. I kept replaying the previous night's events over and over in my head. How could I be so careless? Why couldn't I save that woman? How in the world had that remnant managed to wound me so badly?

What if we'd died? For one petrifying second I had thought Vincent was dead. He was right, that thought was terrifying. Why? Because I cared about him, much more than I should. And I knew he loved me. That love had gotten in the way of his judgement…

The way my most recent fights were going, I could get killed any day now. I didn't want to die. I hadn't lived enough yet, I was only twenty one! Besides, I hadn't found a way to get out of my arranged marriage yet…I hadn't found a way I could be with Vincent…

"Vinnie?" I asked timidly, opening my eyes to look at him.

"Yes Yuffie?" he replied curiously, opening his own eyes, probably wondering why my heart rate had picked up.

"I'm really _really _glad neither of us died." I said quietly, before I shifted closer and kissed him gently. "And I don't blame you for not being able to save that woman, and choosing me instead. It's important you know that I forgive you, as long as you forgive yourself."

"Yuffie…" he murmured, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to him. He smiled gently. "Thank you."

I smiled back. "No more talking, I think." I tilted my head and kissed him again, and he kissed back eagerly. I realised my hands were shaking slightly, but I tried to ignore it as I began to undo one of the belts around his hips.

Vincent broke the kiss and grabbed both my wrists. "Yuffie, we shouldn't." he sounded a little breathless, but his tone was a warning. His eyes contradicted his words.

"I know." was all I said, before I kissed him again and continued to undo the rest of the fastenings on his shirt and trousers.

* * *

***Another mega yawn* I'm off to sleep now. Simples.**

**Oh, but first, the chapter title. The definition of a conspiracy: is a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act. E.g. for this story, an affair (which I'm pretty sure you all saw coming from a mile off), meh, I thought it was pretty clever myself. XD**

**Thank you for reading! You're awesome!**

**xoxo**


	17. Paramour

**Hi. Okay, I just wanna get on with this, 'cos I have a modem and it's gonna run out any second now. So yeah, please read. :)**

**Anons: XlittlexninjaX24; I could just send you a PM, but whatever. :) I'm glad you liked the chapter. And I agree, those remnants really have it in for Yuffie. Lol, yeah let's hire them to kill Kai instead! I dunno what was wrong with your computer, it went a bit weird, but I hope it's fixed now. Thanks for reviewing!**

**darielle; I've updated! You honestly think Vinnie's in character? Woah...I _never_ get him right, so that means a lot. :) Yuffie's much more agreeable with me. Anyways, thank you for reviewing!**

**dlw; Aw, thanks! I'm happy you're enjoying the story. I'll update ASAP each week okay? Hope you like this chapter too, please leave a review to tell me what you thought of it! And thank you for reviewing! :D**

* * *

I felt…happy. For the first time in too long, I was _really _happy. I nuzzled into Vincent's neck gently, not wanting to wake him. He hadn't slept in _three days_, poor guy. He needed this sleep. I didn't feel tired at all, but I didn't want to get up either. So I was content just to watch his chest rise and fall each time he took a deep, slow breath. He seemed to be breathing _too_ slow actually; maybe I'll ask him about that. It'll probably be "a demon thing". Vincent rolled his head towards me as he slept, and I smiled. His arms tightened around my waist, and I knew he was waking up. I rested my head on his shoulder so I could see his face, just as he opened his eyes.

I wasn't sure if I should say anything. Would this be awkward? It didn't _feel _awkward to me, but maybe…

"Good morning." he murmured, smiling at me a little. I smiled back hesitantly.

"Hey." I replied, then bit my lip, not knowing what to say.

There was silence for a few seconds, though not as awkward as I'd first thought.

"…Do you regret it?" Vincent asked seriously, looking down at me with guarded eyes.

I thought about it for about half a second. "No." I answered confidently, "Do you?"

He smirked slightly. "No."

"Good." I said, relieved. He squeezed my waist lightly again.

"…You understand we're going to be in a lot of trouble for this?" he whispered.

"Who says anyone will find out?" I responded, sitting up slightly to rest my head on my hand so I could face him properly.

"…But you are aware of the consequences, aren't you?"

I sighed. In Wutai, adultery was punishable by law. Prison being the best sentence, and death being the worst. Or at least one of the worst.

"I'm well aware of the laws of my own country, thank you very much." I replied, "But like I said, I don't regret it."

Vincent nodded slowly, seemingly agreeing. Then he leaned towards me and planted a gentle kiss on my lips. I couldn't help but smile.

"So, where do we go from here?" I asked, half apprehensive, "Are we…still friends?"

He made a noise of surprised disbelief, "I think we are a little more than friends, don't you?" he asked rhetorically, removing his arm from around my waist to thread his fingers through mine.

I felt myself blushing. "Um, okay, maybe that was a stupid question. I don't think we can go back to being friends."

"I agree." he said, pulling me closer to him and pressing his naked body against mine. My whole body trembled involuntarily. "And I don't want _this _to stop either." he whispered into my neck, before pressing his lips to my skin, and sending a small jolt of electricity from my neck to the tips of my toes.

"Neither do I." I agreed. I think I'd agree with anything he'd say right now.

"Well then, where does that leave us?"

"Um…does the word 'lovers' describe it well enough?"

He made a noise of assent, "Lovers it is."

"Sounds good." I said in an casual tone, when inside I think my stomach was doing a couple of back flips, with my heart attempting to imitate it.

Vincent pulled away from my neck to look me in the eye, "Yuffie…I love you."

Well that was unexpected. My heart stopped momentarily. I stared at him for a few seconds, before realising I wasn't breathing, and taking an uneven gulp of air. I sat up. "Oh-my-god-that-sounds-so-scary-when-you-say-it-out-loud." I whispered under my breath, still stunned.

He chuckled once, sitting up too. I blinked rapidly, still recovering.

"Um…I, love you too." I said, slowly and cautiously. But I found it to be a thoroughly valid statement. I did love Vincent, and he loved me. So we _should_ be together…right?

Oh wow, I've never actually said 'I love you' to anyone before. And no one has ever said that to _me _before. I smiled at him. He brought his human hand up to my face, and caressed my cheek softly. I closed my eyes, still smiling.

"This is what you want?" he asked uncertainly.

I nodded immediately, opening my eyes, "Definitely."

"You want to have an affair? Are you sure you want to betray Kai like this? Do you want-"

"What I _want,_" I said, interrupting him, "is you. Just you."

His lips twitched into an involuntary smile, before his hand dropped from my cheek to my shoulder, and then slid down my arm, raising goose bumps along my skin, "If you're sure…"

"Of course I'm _sure. _I gave you my virginity damn it!"

"Hn. I was surprised to learn you were still a virgin."

"What's that supposed to mean? I didn't want to…with Kai…"

Vincent kissed me briefly on the lips again. "I just assumed, on your honeymoon…"

I scowled. "Yeah, _he _wanted to. I didn't, so he abandoned me."

"_That _iswhat it was about?" he asked irately, frowning. I touched his cheek lightly.

"It doesn't matter now." I said calmly, before I leaned in and kissed him. I felt happy, but I also had this niggling feeling it wouldn't last. A Princess having an affair was unheard of, after all.

Oh well. At least I was guaranteed a place in the history books.

-x-

"I wanna go back and find that woman Vinnie! I wanna know what happened to her!"

"No." he answered simply, for the fourth time. He was sat there _reading, _cooler than a cucumber. I was pacing in front of him irritably, trying to think of ways I could win and get my way.

"But I need to know, otherwise it'll just eat away at me. I mean, what if she's dead and I could have prevented it? What if she's lying in a ditch somewhere- bruised and beaten more than likely -and I could still save her? What if-"

Vincent stood up and pressed a finger to my lips. "No." he said again, before sitting back down on the couch and pulling me with him. His strong arms encircled me to prevent me from moving when I tried to stand back up.

"I'd prefer if you didn't run into those remnants again." He explained, "So we're staying here for the rest of our time in Costa del Sol."

"_No._" I did my best to imitate his deep voice and flat tone. He raised an eyebrow at me, not amused.

"Yuffie…" he warned, giving me a look.

"Vincent." I countered, smirking a little. He narrowed his eyes. I burst into a giggle fit.

He sighed. "Well, how about…we go get some ice cream? Or go down to the beach again?"

Wow, he must be serious of he's willing to put himself through the torture that is, _the beach. _

I gazed at him in awe. "Vinnie, a woman we could have rescued his probably dead by the hands of psycho remnants, and you want to…go get ice cream?"

He rolled his eyes. "This is the only time I'm going to offer. Do you want ice cream or not?"

"Yes." I answered, "But this conversation isn't over."

"Hn." he stood up, placing me on my feet as well.

"Don't 'hn' me." I told him sternly as he led me by the hand towards the door, "We are _going _to continue this argument and I am _going_ to win! In fact, I think you should just give in now and spare me the trouble of-"

My little speech was cut off as Vincent turned around and silenced me with a kiss. I half physically and half metaphorically melted into a puddle of goo. An awesome pile of ninja goo, but still goo nonetheless. I let my eyes slide closed as I wrapped my arms around his neck, intending to keep us locked like this for a while. He, in turn, did the same with my waist, pressing our bodies closer together. A low moan sounded in my throat when he slid his tongue into my mouth to greet my own. He tasted like sweet spices I couldn't remember the names of.

He broke the kiss to whisper in my ear, "Actually, I agree this 'argument' is far from over…" his mouth moved from my ear to my neck where he nipped lightly at the skin there. I found my fingers had tangled themselves in his hair without my permission. "But I _think _I just found a way to win this one."

He untangled himself from me, stepping back. I saw he was smirking. I swallowed loudly, before sighing dreamily, half dazed. His smug smirk grew.

"It seems I have also found a way to put an end to your talking sprees. Interesting." he commented, turning back to open the door.

_Ohmygod, _mental face-palm! Please Leviathan, stop the blood pooling to my cheeks and my heart from racing. Or else I'm pretty sure I'm gonna die from my heart giving out, and/or the loss of blood flowing to my vital organs.

"Aren't you coming?" Vincent asked, amusement colouring his tone just slightly.

I blinked. "Um, yeah." I mumbled, following him out. I finally recovered half way down the hallway. "That was just…despicable Vincent Valentine. Wicked. Disgraceful."

"Oh?"

"Yes, 'oh'. I can't believe you would resort to such dirty tactics. You just knew you couldn't win otherwise."

"Perhaps." he said, the smirk still present.

I glowered at him. "Pfft. Whatever." I pouted sullenly.

He chuckled. I gawped at him in astonishment. "What's so damn funny it makes _you_ laugh?"

He shook his head. "You." he answered, "You make me laugh. No one has been able to do that in a long time."

All my petulance suddenly vanished, and I smiled at him warmly. "Good. That's been one of my aims for a long time."

He returned the smile, his eyes filled with an emotion I could now call love. My breathing hitched as he stepped towards me, closing the gap between us.

I suddenly remembered why alarm bells were going off in my head, and I stepped back hurriedly, "Vinnie, not here. People might see."

He looked like he'd just remembered that, and looked around surreptitiously. Thankfully, no one was present except us. "Sorry." he apologised.

I smiled a little timidly, "No need to apologise. Let's go." I said quietly as I started to walk again. Vincent grabbed my hand.

"We're taking the stairs." he said in explanation, pulling me towards them. I smiled a bit wider.

-x-

I licked my chocolate ice cream contentedly. Myself and Vincent sat on a bench with a picturesque view of the beach and the ocean. I want to live in Costa del Sol in the future; it was my kinda place. Unfortunately, I doubted I'd ever be able to move away from Wutai once I took over.

"I'm gonna buy a house here Vinnie." I told him.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because I really like it here." I answered simply.

"Your father would allow you to pick up and leave Wutai?" he asked rhetorically. I decided to answer anyway.

"No." I said, taking another lick of my ice cream, "But I'd like a place to escape to every once in a while, and the old coot can't stop me."

Vincent made a quiet noise of amusement, before taking another lick of his own ice cream. Vanilla, how boring is that? "I think…it's a good idea."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

He nodded, "As long as I get to use it too."

I gaped at him in surprise, "You're joking right?"

He gave me a look.

"Oh." I said, cottoning on, "As in, _our _house? Like, _both_ of us own the place? With both sets of possessions under the same roof?"

"If you'd like." he said.

I blinked, before my face split into a wide grin. "I think that's an awesome idea. I'm a genius."

Vincent sighed, but I could see there was a small smile on his face. I scooted closer to him and threaded my fingers with those of his claw. It was no biggie, we used to hold hands all the time _before. _The only difference was I felt just a little bit guiltier now. "So, _we're_ gonna buy a house here?" I asked.

"A villa, I think, suits a Princess better."

I gave an excited little squeak, "So, after our mission, we're gonna be coming back here all the time right?"

He nodded, "At risk to my health and mental state, yes."

"_Yay!_" I bounced in my seat a couple of times, trying to resist the urge to get up and break into a happy dance. He chuckled a little. "Vinnie, you're the best, you know that right?"

"I have been told by a certain hyperactive ninja a couple of times."

"Well, that ninja was right, as always. She's a genius."

"Indeed." he commented. I smiled happily. We slowly finished the rest of our ice creams in comfortable silence. Just as I took the last bite of the cone, I remembered something.

"You know Vince…" I started, chewing slowly, "we're not that far away from the remnants building…"

He quietly groaned, "Yuffie, _no._"

"But _why_?"

"It will be too late to do anything now, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"C'mon Vinnie, last time I was…just stupid. I made mistakes I really shouldn't have. I'll be more careful this time, promise!"

Vincent sighed, shifting uneasily where he sat.

"_Please? _Pretty please?" I pleaded, unleashing the power of the puppy-dog eyes.

He caved rather quickly, "Fine."

I grinned, standing up, "Let's go then!"

He stood slowly, "Alright. But first I want you to promise you'll do exactly what I say. If I tell you to run away, I expect you to do it."

"Gawd Vince, relax. You're being way over cautious." I said lightly, turning away from him. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back around to face him.

"_Promise._" he commanded firmly. My resistance wavered under the intensity of his gaze.

"Okay." I said quietly. I touched his cheek soothingly, trying to reassure him, "I promise."

"Thank you." he said, "…Perhaps I am being over cautious, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"It wouldn't be your fault if I got hurt." I told him, taking his hand before I started walking again.

"I hold some responsibility for your wellbeing, and I _never_ want to see you hurt as badly as you were last time."

I sighed, "Overprotective vampire." I mumbled under my breath.

"Careless kleptomaniac." He retorted under his own. We both smirked.

It took a while to find the same route we had taken two nights ago, but eventually we were retracing our path to the remnants building.

"Look Vince, isn't that a surprise?" I said, nodding towards the now clean floor where there had been a pool of blood previously.

He nodded, "Can you remember which way the blood trail was?"

I looked around carefully, "Erm…I think it was this way." I told him, pointing towards the alleyway to our left. As we walked, I searched the ground for even a _speck _of blood, but found none.

"Damn, how can they be so _clean_?" I asked, frustrated.

"Perhaps they are smarter than you and I give them credit for." Vincent commented. I snorted.

"Yeah, maybe." I said, as we came to a stop outside the tall building that apparently _wasn't _used for business purposes. The glass had been cleared away, and the door was now boarded up. I walked forward and pushed it experimentally.

Surprisingly, it swung open.

"I think they might have relocated again Vince." I told him, stepping inside. He followed me warily.

"Still, keep your guard up." he responded, drawing Cerberus. I nodded, un-sheathing a couple of throwing knives, since I'd left my Conformer at the hotel.

"You'd think they'd have stairs for the superior people." I said, stepping into the elevator reluctantly. Vincent "hn"ed, smirking as he pressed the 'down' button.

The elevator 'ping'ed as it came to a stop, again. And I giggled, again. Vincent rolled his eyes.

The doors opened, and I stuck my head out cautiously.

Looking around, I noticed everything that was there before, wasn't. The cardboard boxes I'd been thrown into were the only evidence to show there'd been a fight at all. Oh, and there was the chair in the middle of the room. But other than that…

I stepped out of the elevator, after inspecting every corner of the room to make sure I wouldn't be jumped again.

No remnants. No blood. No woman.

"Damn it!" I hissed. I don't know what I was expecting to find, but I would've liked a _clue _at least.

Vincent circled the room once, looking for said clue, only to come up empty handed. He shook his head. "Sorry Yuffie. There's nothing here anymore."

I made a frustrated noise and kicked the nearest cardboard box savagely.

"Huh?" I moved aside the other cardboard boxes, and discovered a small trap door.

I looked back at Vincent- preparing to announce my findings loudly and smugly -just in time to see him grimace slightly. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"…You _knew _this was here, didn't you?" I asked slowly, folding my arms.

"No." he lied smoothly. And I so _knew _he was lying. No way would he have missed this.

"_Right._" I said patronisingly, "So, just when were you going to slip away and look down here by yourself?"

He sighed, and decided not to answer. I clicked my tongue, annoyed.

"Fine. Whatever." I said, kicking open the latch so the door swung down, revealing nothing but darkness.

I felt warm arms encircle me from behind, "Wait Yuffie." Vincent said, his voice sounding close to my ear.

"Vincent, I am not happy with you right now. So let me go unless you want an elbow to your gut." I retorted.

His arms tightened, pinning my own to my sides. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to get hurt. Last time you almost…died."

"Well I _can _actually take care of myself! I've been doing it for years, since I was eleven in fact!"

"…I know. I'm sorry." he responded quietly. I pouted sullenly.

"I go first." he said, "You won't be able to see through the dark anyway."

"Okay." I sighed, my anger evaporating. His arms loosened, and I turned to face him. "Don't insult me like that again, or I'll be forced to kill you." I told him.

He frowned. "I didn't mean it that way." he said, before kissing my nose briefly, "I'll make it up to you."

I blushed as he let me go. "I'll hold you to that." I said. He smirked a little. I stepped back as he crouched down to inspect the blackness through the trap door.

"Looks like we can just drop down." he told me, straightening up before he stepped into thin air and dropped through it. I followed a little less gracefully.

I landed with a quiet thump, blinking rapidly to get rid of the multi-coloured spots in front of my eyes. "You were right; it's too dark for me to see." My voice echoed eerily.

I felt something cool wrap around my hand, and figured it must be Vincent's claw hand. "Your eyes should adjust a little soon." he sounded close, somewhere to my right, "Close your eyes and count to thirty."

I did as he said, and when I opened my eyes again, I could see the outline of…a table?

"What's that in front of us?" I asked.

"It seems to be an operating table." he replied quietly.

"Oh." I said as he led me around it, "I'm betting this isn't the nicest of rooms."

We came to a stop, and I heard something click. A dim light suddenly flooded the room, and I squinted for a second as my eyes struggled to adjust.

I gasped when I discovered where the source of the light was coming from. There was a large glass tube in front of us, filled with a glowing blue substance that could only be mako. And floating inside was a pretty blonde woman I recognised all too well.

I suddenly wished I hadn't wanted to find out what had happened to her.

"Oh no." I whispered, staring wide-eyed at the poor girl, "That's…really not good is it?"

"No." Vincent answered, squeezing my hand.

When we drained the tube and got her out, Vincent placed her on the operating table. He checked for a pulse, before turning to me and shaking his head. I bit my lip sadly, and looked back to the tube. I noticed there was a small timer on the bottom, and I knelt down to read it.

Apparently, the woman had been in there for just six hours. If only we had gotten here earlier…I could have saved her after all.

* * *

**Okie dokie. Chapter finished. We're finally getting to the good stuff! Yay! Thank you for sticking around for the long haul if you're still reading this. I heart you.**

**Next chapter we're going back to Edge, unfortunately. Our Costa vacation is over. :( And Kai's coming back into the picture again pretty soon, I'm sure you'll all be _thrilled _to know! (Note the sarcasm).**

**Ahem. So yeah, should get interesting, no? I feel so evil. :D**

**Thank you for reading! And reviewing! (hint hint)**

**xoxo**


	18. Which Is Better?

**Lets just get on with it, yes? Sorry anons, but my internet is going to run out...again. :( I'll be sure to reply to any reviews next chapter.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

We called in Reeve to bring some other WRO members to sort out the small lab and do a clean up. Myself and Vincent left as soon as they arrived; I couldn't bare to be in the same room as that poor woman any longer. The woman I could have helped…

"Yuffie…it's not your fault."

I looked up from my half-full suitcase to find Vincent staring at me worriedly.

"What isn't?" I asked, pretending I neither knew or cared for what he was talking about, as I continued to fold one of my shirts.

He sighed quietly, zipping up his own suitcase, and gave me a look that clearly stated, 'You know what.'

I dropped all facades of not knowing and not caring, and threw down my shirt in frustration, "Oh for Leviathans sake, Vincent! She was still alive when they stuffed her in that tank! All that mako she absorbed into her bloodstream killed her within four to five hours! She could have been saved so easily! If we'd gotten there just _one hour _earlier-"

I was abruptly cut off when Vincent grabbed my arm and jerked me forward, and I stumbled before I collided with his chest. He put his arms around me in a tight embrace.

"Don't." Was all he said, as he began to stroke my hair, "Don't blame yourself."

I leaned into him, "But I wanted to go find her this morning…there were so many opportunities to help her! I mean, while we were sitting on our asses eating ice cream, she was probably screaming for help-!"

"Stop it." he said sharply.

"But Vincent-!"

"If anyone's, it's my fault. I left her with those remnants, I stopped you trying to save her, I tried to convince you she was already dead. I gave up on her; left her to die."

I looked up at him angrily. He never learned! "Vincent Valentine, don't you dare shoulder all the blame! Consider this fair warning, 'cos hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn! And all my scorn will come raining down on you in torrents if you so much as _think _those words again! Understood?"

His lips twitched up a little at the corners, "Understood extremely clearly."

"Good!" I responded indignantly, before taking a deep breath and letting it all out in a gust.

Vincent smiled a little more genuinely, and began to rub my back, "You can't shoulder all the blame either."

"Watch me."

He shook his head, "I can't do that."

"Tough." I retorted.

He sighed, the small smile surprisingly still in place, "What is it going to take to make you let this go?"

I was going to answer 'nothing', but then I really thought about it, and grinned, "A kiss. A damn good one too, or no deal. Oh, and some materia wouldn't go amiss, either."

He leaned closer to me, "Deal. Would you like the kiss first, or the materia?"

"Hmm…" I pretended to think for a moment, "I don't know…"

Vincent's small smile became more of a smirk, as he curved his hands around the back of my thighs and picked me up, and I made a small noise of surprise. He walked forward a couple of paces before setting me back down on the dresser.

"I think you should have the kiss now." he said, placing his face inches away from mine.

"We're supposed to be packing now…" I said in a mock disapproving tone.

He seemed to ignore me, and instead closed the small gap between our lips, cupping my cheek and moving his mouth slowly against mine. I closed my eyes and kissed him back blissfully. It felt _so _nice to be loved; to be wanted, and needed. It made a nice change, since I hadn't received much love since my mother died. Kai didn't love me…but Vincent did.

"Vincent? Yuffie? Are you two finished packing?" Reeve's voice drifted through from the main room. Our kiss broke off abruptly and Vincent moved away to his suitcase, just as Reeve wandered in.

"Hey Reeve." I said, recovering quickly and swinging my legs innocently.

He smiled at me warmly, "Still not finished?" he asked, nodding towards my not-quite-packed suitcase.

"Nearly." I said, sliding off the dresser and picking up my abandoned shirt, folding it with much care and precision to make up for throwing it earlier.

"Good. The WRO's airship is ready to leave when you are." he told us, "I'll go tell the pilot you're almost finished. See you in a few."

He left with a small wave. I waited a few seconds after I'd heard the door close before sighing in relief.

"Okay…that was really scary; what if he'd seen us?" My heart was still thudding in my chest, and I placed my palm over it hoping it would calm down.

"…I doubt Reeve would tell anyone. But it's best if no one knows." Vincent responded calmly.

"I so totally agree." I said, returning to my packing, "And how can you be so calm? Aren't you at least a _little _shaken up?"

He smiled slightly; a little wryly, and a little bitterly.

…_Oh. _Lucrecia and Hojo. _Right. _He'd done this before. I pressed my lips together in a hard line. "Ah." I said, understanding, "So…what is it with you and married women?" I asked cheekily, attempting to lighten the mood.

He snorted at my attempts at humour. "Honestly, I have no idea. All I know is that it isn't good for me."

I laughed. "Yeah, you think you'd have learned the first time."

One corner of his mouth twitched up, "Indeed. Hopefully, this time I shall come out unscathed."

The smile slipped off my face, and I averted my gaze to my suitcase, sitting on the bed. "Vincent…should we really be doing this?"

"Yuffie-" I could hear the tension in his voice.

"It's wrong."

"Wait a minute-"

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Just listen-"

"It can't possibly end well."

"Don't say that-"

"And what about Kai? I can't-"

I was suddenly seized by the shoulders from behind, and spun round.

"Yuffie, look at me."

I refused to meet his gaze, and kept my eyes glued to the floor.

"_Look at me._" he said more forcefully. I did so, slowly.

His gorgeous crimson eyes held a trace of panic in them. "Don't say those things. You say it's wrong, but what's wrong about two people in love being together? You say you don't want to hurt me, but you'll hurt me by staying away-"

"Vincent-" I tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip on my shoulders.

"No, listen. You say this can't end well, but that's not true. We'll find a solution. And as for Kai…he doesn't deserve you, or your love. We _will _find a way to make this work. Just…don't say those things."

I was rendered speechless. By his words, his actions, his tone of voice, his eyes. I'd never seen him look so…vulnerable. He was looking at me almost pleadingly.

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my ear on his chest. "You're right. I'm sorry."

I felt his arms encircle me, "You have nothing to apologise for."

I sighed, breathing in his cinnamon/peach/gunpowder scent. I could hear his heart, beating abnormally slowly. It was soothing, almost like the beating of a drum. I closed my eyes.

"Why is your heartbeat so slow?" I asked quietly, curious.

"Hojo." he answered simply.

"I figured." I said coolly, "Why?"

"So I heal quicker. But the demons do most of the work."

"Mm." I responded at length, "Do your demons still talk to you?"

"Sometimes. Not as often, since Chaos was freed."

"So, which is the strongest, now Chaos is gone?"

He thought for a second, "Galian Beast, I think."

I smiled, "That one was always my favourite. He's just a big puppy really."

I felt his frame start to shake slightly with silent laughter.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him, grinning, "What?"

"At first he said he liked you, but he took it back after the 'big puppy' remark."

"But he is! I'd do _anything_ to cuddle him; do you know if he like's being scratched behind the ears?"

He chuckled quietly, "I'm not sure. But honestly, I don't think he's cuddling material. He'd much rather tear you to shreds."

"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes, unafraid, "Like I said, he's just a big puppy."

Vincent slowly shook his head in disbelief.

-x-

"Urgh." I groaned, gritting my teeth in an attempt to keep my stomach contents where they belonged.

"Just a little while longer Yuffie." Vincent soothed, smoothing my damp hair from my face.

"How much longer? And this pilot is worse than fricking _Cid!_"

"I agree, it's not a very smooth ride, but we should be landing in about half an hour."

"…Okay. I can deal." I mumbled weakly.

"Sorry." he apologised again.

"S'not your fault. I blame my father. He _must've _given me a motion sickness gene, just to spite me…"

"He disliked you before you were even born now?" Vincent asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hell yeah, when he found out I was a girl, probably."

He sighed, "I can't understand why you don't get along."

"Different opinions on things." I told him nonchalantly, "But mainly it's just because he's an ass."

"Ah, I see." he sounded slightly amused, "He doesn't approve of your views?"

"He doesn't approve of _me; _full stop." I complained, wishing we could talk about something else.

"…I'm sure that's not true." he responded persuasively.

"Oh? He wouldn't approve of this affair."

Vincent looked a little surprised before he smirked slightly, "Hn. Touché."

I laughed feebly, then moaned.

"Shall I go tell the pilot to attempt to fly a little smoother?" he asked.

"No. Tell him if there is _one_ more bump in this ride, he's gonna get decapitated, a la Yuffie. M'kay? Go message boy, go!"

Vincent sighed quietly, smiling, before he left.

That left me alone with my thoughts, which was a good thing. I sighed and rolled over in the tiny cabin bed slowly, so as not to disturb my already very upset stomach.

So, my thoughts…basically, I was screwed. I loved Vincent, but was married to Kai. I gave my virginity to Vincent, when I was supposed to give it to Kai. I was all affectionate with Vincent, when I should be all lovey-dovey with Kai. Yep…I was screwed. So, who was better, Vincent or Kai?

Or a more important debate; which is better, hot chocolate fudge cake and ice cream, or apple pie and custard?

Hmm…

Well, the hot and cold of the fudge cake and ice cream work together wonderfully, and the chocolate is deliciously sweet. While an apple pie is slightly healthier, sweet and sour, and the custard is just yummy. Erm…oh this is a toughie…I'll go with hot chocolate fudge cake and ice cream.

Oh, back to the original question; Vincent. Duh.

-x-

"Sweet land!" I cried as I stumbled off the airship, "Oh how I've missed you!"

Vincent shook his head at my antics, thanked Reeve, and then followed me towards the Seventh Heaven.

"Do you think Tifa will have some chocolate fudge cake and ice cream?" I asked as we walked.

"Perhaps. You'll have to ask her."

"Oh, I will…wait, do you think she'll charge me? She _does _charge extortionate prices for her drinks…"

"She does not. Only you seem to think they are unreasonable."

"They so are! I'm her friend, I should at _least_ get a discount!"

He sighed. I copied him. He smiled.

Vincent went to open the door to the bar, but I stopped him, "No! You can't make an amazingly epic ninja entrance like I can! Excuse me."

He rolled his eyes and stood back so I could go first. I flung open the door ungraciously.

"Tifa! You know how I'm your best friend ever, right? Do you have any chocolate fudge cake and ice cream? If you say no I'm gonna-"

I stopped talking when I saw him. Sitting on a bar stool in front of Tifa, perfectly at ease, with what looked like a J.D and coke. He was smirking at me in amusement.

"Hey there Yuffie." Kai said, "How have you been?"

"Um…" I was surprised the people closest to me didn't suddenly keel over from the tension that was surely radiating from my body. I felt Vincent's presence close behind me, and quickly recovered my composure. "Kai, hey. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you. I came to visit you, and Tifa told me you were in Costa del Sol. So I've been staying at my flat until you came back." he explained, before patting the stool next to him, "Come and sit; I'll buy you a drink."

I smiled a little stiffly and sat down. He took my hand, "I really missed you Yuffie."

Um, was I supposed to say that back? It was fitting I guess…"Yeah, I missed you too." I lied.

"Aren't you coming to sit down, Vincent?" Tifa asked, smiling warmly. I looked over my shoulder, to see him still standing in the doorway. I could tell he was internally debating with himself.

"…No. I have things to do. Goodbye Tifa, Yuffie."

Then he was gone, just like that. I felt abandoned.

"So, what do you want to drink?" Kai asked.

"…I think I'll have a large brandy, straight." I told him. I was so gonna need it…

"Huh. Okay, you heard the lady, Tifa." he said, smiling at her kindly.

"Coming up." she replied.

I waited until she'd finished pouring the drink and set it in front of me, "Oh yeah, Teef, come help me find some chocolate fudge cake and ice cream." I said, vaulting over the bar and grabbing her hand, dragging her into the kitchen before she could protest.

"How long has he been here?" I whisper screamed.

"Um…why are you whispering?" she asked, obviously confused.

"Shh!" I waved my hand close to her face to get her to be quiet, "We're supposed to be looking for chocolate fudge cake and ice cream, remember!"

"Oh, right." she said, dropping her voice to a whisper, "What did you really want?"

"Answer my god dammed question woman!" I stage whispered.

"He's been here about a couple of hours."

I rolled my eyes. _Face palm. _

"No, I meant how long has he been in _Edge_?"

"Oh, um…three days, I think. He's been waiting for you. And he's been coming here every day. I have to say, you're a lucky girl, Yuffie, he's very charming."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Damn, he seemed to be _charming _to everyone except me.

Tifa was looking at me confusedly. "Um…is he not charming at home?"

I sighed. "Yeah, yeah; he's a real sweetheart." I muttered. So sweet in fact that he's only been waiting here for me for _three days, _and charming the pants of Tifa.

…Ew, not literally. I hope. Meh.

"Tifa, you don't _like_ like my husband, do you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She looked scandalised, "No! Gawd no Yuffie, I wouldn't! Besides me and Cloud are-"

Tifa clapped her hand to her mouth, realising her mistake.

"Oh. My. God." I said, gaping at her, "You and Cloud got together!"

"Oh Yuffie, please don't tell anyone. We don't want to announce it yet." she pleaded, blushing madly.

"No problem Teef, your secret's safe with me."

She sighed, "Thanks. Now, do you want cake and ice cream, or not?"

"Please." I said, smiling widely.

Turns out Tifa didn't have any chocolate fudge cake and ice cream. I returned to my seat dejectedly.

"No cake and ice cream?" asked Kai.

"None." I replied, pouting.

"Tell you what, finish your brandy and we'll go back to my flat. I promise there's plenty of desserts."

"Um…" I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say, "Okay." I said slowly. The things I do for fudge cake and ice cream…

I drank my brandy slowly, surprisingly liking the burn it caused at the back of my throat. As soon as I was finished Kai stood up, taking my hand in the process.

"Well, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow Tifa." he smiled, winking at her. I rolled my eyes.

She smiled back, "Great. See you then."

"Bye Teef." I said, as Kai pulled me out of the bar.

He put his arm around my shoulders as we walked, "So, how did your mission go?"

"Okay." I replied, "Those basta-um, stupid remnants have it in for me. This one complete _cow _broke my arm."

His eyes widened, "Leviathan. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But there was this woman I was trying to save, and…well, I didn't, in the end."

He rubbed my arm sympathetically, "Didn't? Don't you mean couldn't?"

I sighed, "Yeah, I guess."

Kai frowned, "You blame yourself, right?"

I looked at him with sad eyes. He sighed.

"I can empathise. It's tough, but as long as you tried, that's all you can do."

I smiled slowly, "You know, you sounded just like an Emperor then."

"Really?" he asked, surprised. I nodded. "Result! The Royal Councils influence is finally starting to rub off on me."

I laughed. "That's a pretty impressive feat."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, laughing with me.

I just laughed some more, trying to remember if I'd ever laughed with him like this before…nope, this was a first. It was nice.

We reached his flat, and he unlocked the door, "I need to get a key cut for you."

"If you want." I said.

"My wife should have a key to my house. I can't believe I didn't get you one sooner."

I shrugged, "Probably slipped your mind, since you're always so busy."

He grimaced, "I suppose. Remind me to get you one."

"Okay." I said, as we entered. He switched on the light and ushered me inside the living room.

"Go on and sit down, I'll dig out some cake and ice cream for you." he said, shrugging off his jacket.

"M'kay." I sat on the couch and turned on the T.V.

"What flavour ice cream do you want?" Kai asked, sticking his head around the kitchen door.

I was about to answer 'chocolate', but then changed my mind, "Vanilla. Please."

"Alright." his head disappeared back around the corner. I flipped the channels until I found something interesting, and settled deeper into the couch.

"Et viola. A slice of the finest hot chocolate fudge cake, with a dollop of Wutai's own vanilla ice cream."

I grinned and took the bowl from him, "Thanks."

Before I could tuck in, he sat close next to me and kissed my cheek, "I almost forgot how beautiful you were, I haven't seen you in a while."

I smiled slightly, saying nothing, before scooping a bit of the cake into my mouth.

It got a lot less awkward after that though. Kai brought me mountains of desserts, and we laughed so hard at the comedy we watched. After that we watched a horror movie, which was more gory than actually frightening, but I still couldn't eat anything through it.

"I told you so!" Kai exclaimed loudly, munching on some more popcorn, "See, damsel in distress is saved by the hero, and…wait for it…oh look, they're kissing. Look's like they're gonna get together and live happily ever after."

I snorted, "Yeah, until the sequel."

He laughed, and I laughed too. I was having a good time; this was the most time I had spent with Kai since actually meeting him.

But nonetheless…my thoughts kept straying back to Vincent. Where was he? What was he doing now?

Kai's arm squeezed my shoulders for a moment as he stopped laughing.

"I love you." he said quietly.

I froze. And not in the way I had when Vincent told me that. My heart stopped for a moment, as did my breathing. But instead of it being out of shock, it was out of panic. What was I supposed to say? 'Thanks, that's sweet. I don't love you, 'cos there's someone else.' He was looking at me apprehensively, waiting for my reaction.

I made my lips curl into a smile, and tried to sound convincing, "I love you too."

Oh, that is the biggest damn lie I have ever told.

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**Et viola! Another chapter, a la moi. Good enough?**

**If you were a little confused over the who is better/which dessert is better part, I'll explain. I thought Yuffie was OOC in this, so towards the end I tried to make her more like herself. And I reckon she'd put more thought into which dessert she liked best rather than which man she liked best. So yeah.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	19. Guilty As Sin

**Yo. XD I'm in a really good mood today, partly from the fact that this story has the most reviews I have ever had. Over 100, 0_0! Woah...Thank you!**

**This chapter is a little shorter than others, but at least I got it out quickly, right? I dedicate it to those who have reviewed so far! You guy's are...indescribably awesome.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII. But when I take over the world, I will! :D**

* * *

I "mmft"ed and pulled the covers over my head to block out the sunlight streaming in from the window that had been exposed just a few seconds ago.

"C'mon Yuffie, wake up." a gentle voice called.

I "mmft"ed again, meaning 'no'. There was a light chuckle, before the covers were slowly pulled down to reveal my head and shoulders. I slapped the hands away, tugging the sheets up again. I heard an amused sigh.

"Fine then."

The covers shifted, and I became aware of a warm presence beside me. I snuggled into it subconsciously, and it wrapped it's arms around me. Then I opened my eyes blearily, to see a well muscled, bare chest.

"Oh, so _now_ you choose to open your eyes, sleepy girl?"

I looked up, and saw Kai's amused expression. I frowned slightly, thinking back to the events that led me here. Oh yeah, we shared his bed after our little movie night. Kai had some of my clothes and things here from Wutai, hence why I was clad in silk pyjamas. While he only had on some P.J. trousers.

"Well, if you're not ready to wake up yet, by all means, go back to sleep." he said.

I thought about that for a few seconds, my mind still cloudy with sleep, "…Nah, I'm awake now."

Kai chuckled, "Good; you can have your breakfast then."

He untangled himself from me and sat up, reaching across me towards the bedside table. He laid a tray of food and drink across my legs.

"Oh, wow." I said, surprised, "Thanks." I grabbed the tray with one hand and sat up.

"You made all this?" I asked, scanning the tray. It had a wide variety of foods, such as bacon (my personal favourite), eggs, sausages and toast. On another, smaller plate were many different fruits. There was also orange juice, tea and coffee.

"Yeah." he replied, "Uh, I wasn't completely sure what you liked for breakfast." He looked a little ashamed that he didn't know.

"Well, for future reference, bacon is the holy grail for me." I said, picking up the knife and fork and cutting into said food. Kai laughed. "I love a fry up, so this is perfect. Fruit isn't really my thing; only for a snack. I also like orange juice, but the earlier in the morning it is, the more I crave -and need- coffee. I don't really drink tea, unless it's chamomile or jasmine."

"Hmm, okay; I'll remember that." he said, looking thoughtful. I smiled.

"But thank you, really. The last time I had breakfast in bed was before my mother died."

Kai draped an arm around my shoulders, "A Princess deserves this sort of treatment all the time, I should think."

I giggled, and then continued to devour almost everything in the tray.

It wasn't nearly as good as Vincent's cooking.

"So, do you have any plans for today?" Kai asked when I was finished.

"Do you?"

"I was hoping to spend the day with you, before I have to return to Wutai."

"Oh. When do you have to go back?"

"Either tonight or tomorrow morning." he told me, getting out of bed and lifting the tray off me.

"Ah. Well, I need to meet up with Vincent, and then go see Reeve about our recent mission." I said, my heart doing a quick leap at the prospect of seeing the gunman. I hoped it didn't show on my face.

Kai made a noise of assent in his throat, "Alright. When are you off to the WRO HQ then?"

I smiled, "Dunno. I'll ring Vinnie and ask."

Kai nodded, and I saw he was attempting to hide a smirk. He turned away from me and carried the tray out of the room. I swore I heard him mutter "Vinnie." under his breath and snort. I scowled at his back as he left.

I reached over and grabbed my cell phone from the bedside table, dialling Vincent's number. It was then I thought to check the time, and glanced over at the clock as the phone began to ring. Woah, 10.15? Vinnie would definitely be awake by now.

A few more rings, before he finally picked up, "Yuffie."

"Hey Vincent." I greeted, smiling and sinking deeper into the covers. It felt so good to hear his voice.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Kai's flat. I stayed here for the night."

"…Hn." he didn't sound happy.

"Vinnie, don't be upset. I had to spend time with him."

I heard him sigh, "I understand. He is your husband, after all."

I bit my lip, "Forget it. When should we see Reeve for debriefing?"

"He is expecting us at around one."

"Okay. I'll meet you at your apartment?"

"Hn." I took that to mean 'yes'.

"Alright then, I'll see you soon."

"…Yuffie, I love you."

My breath caught, as my heart seemed to swell to twice it's size. I smiled slowly.

"I-" I was about to say it back, when Kai walked in, fully clothed and smiling at me, "-have to go." I finished, "Bye, Vince."

I hung up quickly, feeling so, _so_ _horribly _guilty.

"Well, what's the plan?" asked Kai.

"Um…I have a couple of hours free before I have to go see Reeve at one o'clock." I told him, "So, what do you want to do?"

"Hmm…" he thought for a moment, "There isn't a lot to do here is there? I prefer Wutai."

"I guess." I agreed half-heartedly, "How about…we just go for a walk? We'll find something to amuse us, and then the Seventh Heaven opens at noon."

"Sounds good." he replied, smiling, "Get dressed then, beautiful."

I blushed.

-x-

We walked hand in hand along the streets of Edge. It was a nice day, and the sun always put me in a good mood.

"How is Wutai, by the way?" I asked.

"Good, good." Kai replied lightly, "It's coming along; getting steadily richer from all the trading that's been going on."

"That's good to hear." I said, smiling, "You're really working hard then?"

"Non stop." he responded, sounding worn. But then he laughed, "I'm going to go prematurely gray."

I laughed, and he squeezed my hand.

"When are you coming back to help out, Princess?"

I bit my lip. "What, can't handle the workload?" I joked.

He chuckled, "I could use a bit of help, every now and again. And I'm sure the people would be thrilled to have their Princess back."

"Erm…" I hesitated. Honestly, I loved the place, but I didn't want to go back…not just yet.

Kai chuckled again, "Don't look so nervous! You don't want to come back yet, I get it. I thought you wouldn't want to."

I smiled, "Thanks for understanding."

"Don't worry about it. I got it covered, at least for a while."

We walked for a little while longer in comfortable silence, before I said, "It's past noon, do you want to head over to the Seventh Heaven?"

"Sure." he replied, smiling. I smiled back sweetly. He was being really nice.

We entered the bar -still hand in hand- just as Cloud was leaving.

"Hey Cloud." I greeted.

"Yuffie." he said, smiling a little.

"Off to deliver things?" I asked uninterestedly.

"Yep."

I giggled, "Have fun, delivery boy. That's going to be your new nickname, by the way."

"Thanks." he said sarcastically.

"Your welcome. At least it's nicer than chocobo head."

He made a noise of amusement, "I suppose it is. See you round." He nodded to me and Kai before heading towards his garage.

"You met Cloud at the wedding right?" I asked Kai. He nodded.

"Seemed like a decent guy." he commented.

"Yeah, he is. A pretty good leader too, but don't tell him I said that. Delivery boy is also a _gold mine._" I said, showing Kai the gil I'd managed to swipe as he'd brushed past me.

He laughed, "If you say so. No materia?"

"He always notices when I take even one…"

Kai shook his head, still smiling, as we went inside.

"Hey Teef." I said, sitting on a bar stool. Kai sat next to me.

"Hello you two. Can I get you anything?" asked Tifa politely.

"Nothing for me, thanks." Kai said, smiling at her.

"I'll have a coke please Teef." I told her.

She nodded, grabbing a glass and pouring the drink.

"You know Tifa, you're _always _working." I commented.

"…I have Sunday's off." she informed me.

"Pfft! Oh wow, _one _day off! You should take more time off to do the stuff you wanna do." I said. "Me and you should do something sometime." I added as an afterthought.

She smiled, "Yeah okay. What would you like to do sometime?"

"I dunno. Let's go shopping."

She raised an eyebrow, "Shopping?" she asked incredulously, "Yuffie, since when do you do _shopping_?"

"Since now." I announced, "Oh oh! I know! Let's have a spa day!"

She laughed at my excitement, "That actually sounds really nice, Yuffie. Shall I organise it? When will you be free?"

I shrugged, "Whenever you're free."

"Alright. Should be fun!"

"A spa day huh?" Kai said thoughtfully, "I'll pay for it, if you'd like, ladies."

Tifa gasped, "Oh, no! It's okay! Don't be silly!"

I thought for a second, "...Well Kai, if you feel so inclined-"

"Yuffie!" Tifa scolded.

"What? If the man want's to pay for our well deserved, well earned spa day, who am I stop him? Who are _you _to stop him?" I glared at her. Kai was offering a _free _day of pampering and relaxation!

Tifa sighed, "That's very generous of you Kai, but it's really not necessary. I suppose if you want to pay for Yuffie to go, then by all means. But I can pay for myself."

"Are you sure Tifa? I wouldn't mind." he said.

"I'm sure. Thank you anyway." She smiled at him warmly, before moving off to serve another customer.

I stared after her, shaking my head. "_I'll_ pay for her." I told Kai.

"I'll give you enough to pay for both of you then, and you can just pretend it's your money."

"Deal. Thank you." I said sincerely, leaning over and pecking him on the cheek.

He smiled widely.

It wasn't very interesting after that. I waited impatiently for the hands of the clock to move. Time seemed to be moving awfully slowly just to spite me. Finally, at quarter to one, I decided it would be acceptable to leave.

"I need to get to the WRO." I told Kai, standing up.

"Can I come with you?" he asked.

"No!" I said, a little two quickly, "I mean, it's just a debriefing. It'll be really boring. It won't take long anyway."

He frowned, "Can't I at least walk you there?"

I smiled, "I'll be fine. You stay here and drink away. I'll be back soon."

He sighed, before standing up and pulling me to him, "Alright, I'll wait here for you."

Then he leaned down and kissed me softly. People were watching, so I had no choice but to kiss him back.

"Hurry back." he said, after breaking the kiss. I nodded.

"I will."

Another lie. I had no intention of hurrying. I was planning to take my sweet time, actually. I exited the bar quickly though. And when I was sure there was no way Kai could see me, I broke into a run.

I entered Vincent's apartment quietly, closing the door gently behind me. As I entered the living room, I noticed Vincent was sat in his armchair near the fire, cleaning Cerberus. He had his back to me, and was so absorbed in his work he didn't hear me come in. I smiled and walked over to him as stealthily as I could.

Not stealthy enough apparently. He stopped cleaning the gun suddenly, glancing behind him. I pouted when he saw me. Damn him and his super senses.

"Yuffie." he said, setting Cerberus down and standing up. I rushed over to him and fell into his arms more than willingly, reaching up on my tip-toes to press my lips to his briefly.

"Continuing our conversation from earlier, I love you too." I told him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down, attacking his lips again.

-x-

"So, the remnant's have disappeared again. Until I figure out the WRO's next move, you're free to do whatever you like. Don't expect another mission for a while." Reeve told us, looking very tired.

"M'kay. If you need us for anything Reeve, make sure you call." I informed him firmly. The guy really needed to learn to take a break.

He smiled, "Yes Yuffie. I'll be fine."

I nodded and followed Vincent out of Reeve's office slowly.

We walked down the corridor in silence, though it wasn't uncomfortable. When Vincent headed towards the stairs, I grabbed his hand to stop him, and pulled him towards the elevator. He gave me a questioning look.

"Yuffie, what are you-"

"Shh!" I cut him off, pressing the button for the ground floor. As soon as the doors slid closed, I reached up and kissed him fervently. He was obviously surprised, but kissed me back just as enthusiastically. Without breaking the kiss, I reached behind him and pressed the 'emergency stop' button.

The elevator halted immediately. Vincent broke the kiss and raised an eyebrow at me, cottoning on. I grinned at him boldly.

"People will just think the elevator's broken." I told him in an innocent tone.

He looked at said elevators ceiling, checking for cameras, before looking back down at me again.

"Isn't Kai expecting you?" he asked.

"Hmm…it just so happens that the debriefing took a little longer than expected."

He smirked, before leaning down to claim my lips again.

-x-

The elevator moved down smoothly, as I straightened my clothes and smoothed down my hair. Vincent was just finishing clasping his belts back into place. I giggled and reached over to run my fingers through his dark mane, attempting to calm it. Vincent's sex hair really was an amazing sight. The elevator doors slid open, and we both stepped out, smiling a knowing smile.

Yeah, I was guilty as sin. What of it?

* * *

**Tada! How was that one? :D Kai's acting suspiciously nice, no?**

**Like I said, I'm in a damn good mood. So, what should I do to celebrate my 100th review marker? Oh, I've never had a 100th review marker before...it makes me so happy! :D **

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	20. Confrontation

**Okay, so this chapter is another short-ish one again. So sue me. Wait, no, don't. :) Sorry! Um...this should've been out yesterday, at the latest. Heh heh. My bad. Well, I think you'll like it anyway. Hopefully.**

**As always, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. **

* * *

Myself and Kai had left the Seventh Heaven over eight hours ago, and were back at his flat. I was staying over for the night again, but I think it was only expected.

I shut of the shower and stepped out carefully, before grabbing the soft, warm towel from the radiator and wrapping it around my body. Honestly, I couldn't wait until Kai returned to Wutai. Hopefully he'd have to stay there for a while. I grabbed another towel and started drying my hair as I exited the bathroom.

And bumped into Kai, coincidentally. I stumbled and began to fall backwards (inwardly I counted this would be the seventeenth time I ended up on my ass this month), but Kai's arms shot out and caught me, pulling me into his arms.

"Woah, careful." he said, smiling. I gave a nervous laugh. He was shirtless, as he always was for bed, and me being in just a towel didn't exactly make me feel comfortable.

"You're the clumsiest ninja I know." he said, still smiling at me fondly, and _still_ holding me _way _too close.

"Uh…y-yeah, I've been told. Must be my fathers genetics." I told him. He chuckled, before he leaned down and kissed me unexpectedly. I didn't close my eyes, but forced my lips to move with his. His hands found my waist, and slowly moved up until he was able to tug at the hem of my towel…

I broke away from him and stepped back hurriedly. "Kai, no. I don't want to…"

"C'mon Yuffie," he said, closing the gap between us and grabbing a fistful of the towel at my waist, "this is my last night here, and I wanted-"

"Kai, _no!_" I repeated firmly, tugging the cloth out of his grasp and pushing his hand away. His expression changed to one of faint anger, before his face smoothed out into a calm mask. I clutched the towel closer to me defensively.

"Okay." he held up his hands in surrender, "I'm sorry."

I nodded rigidly, not trusting my voice.

"But you know, this is technically against Wutai's laws. We should've honoured our marriage months ago. You'll need to commit soon Yuffie." he told me, turning his back on me and heading to the living room.

I gazed after him in horror. I knew it was tradition, but I didn't know it was a _law._

Oh _crap._

-x-

"So now, I either refuse to have sex with him, and he'll no doubt go squealing to the Royal Council and I'll be denied the throne until I c_ommit._" I said, the speed of my words increasing as I spoke, "Or I have sex with him and he'll know I'm not a virgin and go squealing to the Royal Council and I'll be disgraced and banished from Wutai and-"

Vincent grabbed my shoulders to halt my relentless pacing, "Yuffie, _breathe._"

I took a huge gulp of oxygen, my lungs expanding in relief.

"You really need to stop talking so fast." he commented.

"Me talking fast is the least of my worries right now Vincent!" I said shrilly, turning around to face him, "What the hell am I going to _do_?"

He sighed. "I don't know, Yuffie."

I threw my hands up in frustration and continued pacing around his apartment.

"I can tell you what I don't want you to do," he said slowly, his ruby eyes following my path around his home, "…I don't want you to sleep with him."

I stopped pacing to send him a look, "I kinda figured, actually." I said, before I burst into a small fit of giggles. I pressed my hand to my forehead; I think this was already driving me crazy.

When my giggles had died down, I walked over to him slowly. Vincent opened his arms, and I stepped into them, wrapping my own arms around his waist. I sighed and let my forehead drop against his chest. His hands rubbed my back soothingly.

Kai had left early this morning, before I'd even woke up. I'd awoke to find a cold, empty bed and a note on the other pillow. It read; _'My beautiful Princess, I'm sorry I had to leave so early, but Wutai is going to fall to pieces any minute now. We should be able to spend more time together soon; I'll make it up to you then. I'll miss you, and I love you. Kai. x' _

I had torn up the note and set it alight with my fire materia.

"I suppose…all I can do is just try to drag it out for as long as possible; keep making excuses, telling him I'm not ready…" I mused, turning my head to rest my left ear against Vincent's chest.

"Hn. I'll think of something during that time." he responded, "I promise."

I sighed again, before closing my eyes and listening to his heartbeat. The drumming sound his heart made calmed me immensely.

"Would you like some breakfast?" he asked after a while. I nodded.

"Please." I replied, reluctantly stepping away from him. He headed to the kitchen to prepare me something. I stood idly for a few seconds, before deciding to follow him.

Mmm…bacon. I licked my lips subconsciously at the smell of it cooking. As Vincent flitted around making my first meal of the day, I noticed he had very faint dark circles under his eyes. Which has _never_ happened! _Never_! I pouted sourly, jumping up onto the worktop and swinging my legs absently.

"Vincent, how long has it been since you slept last?"

I heard him sigh quietly, "…You're not going to like the answer."

"Tell me." I commanded, narrowing my eyes.

"Ninety-five hours ago."

"Vinnie-" I started reproachfully.

"I'll sleep tonight Yuffie…" he said, glancing at me, "if you'll sleep by my side."

I blinked. "Um…yes please."

A hint of a smile graced his features, and he returned to cooking my breakfast.

I smiled too; then noticed I was swinging my legs, and swung them a little more enthusiastically.

Did I mention Vincent's breakfast was _so_ much better than Kai's? Well, it was.

-x-

"Okay, so this spa day…can we make it a spa _weekend_?" I asked Tifa sweetly.

"As nice as that would be Yuffie-" Tifa began, but I cut her off by pushing down her hand that was holding a half-full glass of cola onto the bar counter.

"Aw, why not?" I made the puppy-dog eyes I was famous for.

She gave me a look as if it were obvious. I rolled my eyes and threw her an 'I fail to see the problem' expression. Tifa sighed.

"Alright, fine. That would be nice." she smiled.

I grinned back at her, "Yes! This is gonna be great!"

"You're going on a spa weekend?" Cloud asked from behind the bar, looking confused. Bless him.

"Yes delivery boy, that's what we just agreed on." I said slowly. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Barrett's agreed to watch Denzel and Marlene for a while," Tifa told him, "So you only have to handle the bar for a couple of days. The staff will help you out."

He nodded and smiled a little at her. I grinned; this was a very rare occurrence! Cloud Strife was smiling! It was almost as rare as a smile from Vinnie.

Thinking of Vinnie, I couldn't help but glance at him from the other side of the bar, then quickly looked away again. I was determinedly trying to _ignore _the small scene taking place just _meters_ away from me. An absolutely drop dead gorgeous woman was flirting with him. And no, I don't think she _actually_ had a death wish, I just think she'd deluded herself into thinking she _actually_ had a chance with him. Honestly, it makes me feel physically sick.

What's worse is that Vincent was silently enduring it. He's too much of a gentleman just to say _piss off. _I so wish he would. And what's even _worse _is that this woman had really long, chocolate brown hair; a pretty, slender figure, and dark brown eyes that could melt hearts. A lot like Lucrecia. _Too much _like Lucrecia. I felt completely unattractive and insecure just being in the same room as her. I mean, how could I compete with _that_?

"Yuffie!"

My eyes snapped back to Tifa, as they had unwittingly strayed to the other side of the room again.

"Huh?" I asked eloquently.

"I said, are you okay?" she asked, "You seem distracted."

"Um…I'm just tired. Soz."

She smiled and shook her head fondly, before moving away to serve other customers.

I sighed. Stupid, ridiculously attractive woman, making me look bad. I hate her. I don't care if she was actually really nice, she was _flirting _with my-

Wait. Ah. There's the problem. Vincent wasn't strictly _my _anything. What claim did I have on him? Exactly. I wasn't allowed. He wasn't allowed to be anything to me except my friend, in public anyway.

Aha! Yeah, there's a way to finish my sentence; she was flirting with my friend. And that was just _unacceptable!_

But what could I do about it?

I looked over at them again. She practically had him backed into the frickin' wall! And she was _still _way too close to him, all flirty smiles and playful, sparkly eyes. Vincent froze as she leaned up to whisper something in his ear.

Oh, that is it!

I set down my drink with excessive force, and spared my wedding ring a 0.7723 second glance before I wrenched it off my finger. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, but I could not take that _sickening_ flirting anymore. I stood up, slipping the ring into my back pocket, and walked determinedly towards them. Vincent saw me coming, and sent me a puzzled look. I ignored him for the moment, and tapped the dark-haired beauty on the shoulder. She looked round at me, and _damn…_she was even more gorgeous up close.

Focus Yuffie! You are _so _not threatened by this woman. Nope, not at all…

"Hey there." I said, smiling sweetly as I not-so-discreetly slipped between her and Vincent, "You've been flirting with my man for about twenty minutes now, and you _still _haven't given up yet, so I just thought I should inform you he's taken. Go get your own."

"Excuse me? _Your _man?" she asked, looking offended. Too bad.

"Yes, _mine. _He's just too much of a gentleman to tell you to get lost. So I'm doing it for him. Leave him alone, or else." I warned seriously, dropping my facade of being innocently sweet.

"Yuffie, there will be _no _fighting in my bar!" Tifa called to me, the scene having finally grabbed her attention. Actually, pretty much the whole bar was watching now.

"Don't worry Teef, I'll take it outside if necessary." I called back, not looking at her; I was glaring too hard at the woman in front of me.

She glared back. To be fair, she was a little intimidating. And much taller than me. But hell, everyone was; I could take her.

"Fine." she said, smiling. She looked over me at Vincent, "You have my number right? Just in case you get tired of this spoiled, ankle-biting brat?"

I gasped. "Oh no you didn't!" I exclaimed, starting forward quickly. I felt a metal arm wrap around my waist and jerk me back.

"Vinnie, let me go! I'm gonna murder this bitch!" I struggled in his iron grasp.

She had the audacity to _laugh! _"Of course you are sweetie," she said sarcastically, "just like a chihuahua could murder a rottweiler."

Then I laughed, "Please, as if you have a rottweiler's strength? You may look like one, but still…"

"You little-" The woman stepped towards me, but was pulled back by Cloud.

"Alright…I'm sorry, but I think you need to leave." he told her.

"Me? What about _her?_" she screeched, pointing at me. I smiled smugly, relaxing in Vincent's hold. Cloud pulled the struggling woman to the exit.

"Let go! I can leave by myself!" she said angrily. He released her hesitantly. She looked back to glare at me.

I waved goodbye sardonically, smug smile still in place, and her jaw dropped open in surprise. She made an insulted noise, before she turned and left the bar. I smiled widely in triumph.

I looked around the room, seeing everyone was watching me, "What? Is there a problem?"

Everyone hastily concentrated on their drinks, muttering quietly about what they had just witnessed. I turned to face Vincent, but not before I saw Cloud and Tifa give each other a look. Uh oh.

"That was absurdly dangerous, Yuffie." Vincent whispered to me.

"I know; I'm sorry." I whispered back, "But I just couldn't _stand _that!"

A small smile made it's way across Vincent's face, and his eyes softened, "…We'll leave soon."

I nodded in agreement, "You know, looking at me like that is _way _more suspicious that what I just did."

Vincent blinked, as if he didn't realise he was looking at me in any particular way. I giggled as he brushed past me and went to sit on a bar stool. I followed his example happily.

"What was that about?" Tifa asked him.

"Yuffie came to my rescue." he explained shortly. She opened her mouth to ask for more information, when I jumped in.

"Teef, couldn't you see Vinnie was _so _not interested? So I decided to save him!" I said, grinning innocently. She smiled.

"Oh, right. Of course, I wondered what you were doing." she tapped her forehead lightly, as if reprimanding herself for not thinking of it sooner.

Cloud raised an eyebrow cynically. Damn, maybe delivery boy is smarter than he looks.

…Nah. This is _Cloud. _He's got nothing in that spiky head of his except half-way decent leadership skills. And how to hand-wrap and deliver a parcel. Oh, and I guess he knows how to swing a sword, too.

-x-

As soon as we had entered Vincent's apartment, said man proceeded kiss me avidly and began to remove my clothing. Not that I didn't like it, but we could at _least _get to the sofa.

"I don't think Cloud bought my excuse." I tried to say around his lips.

"Oh?" he asked, moving his lips to my neck. I pushed him into the living room.

"He sent me this really weird look." I said, "I don't think he believed me at all."

Vincent picked me up, carrying me towards his bedroom, "We'll have to be more careful."

I snorted, "More careful? I'm sorry, but if anyone flirts with you again, drastic action will have to be taken. Like assassination, for example."

"Hn." he contributed, as he opened his bedroom door. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm serious, if I ever see that woman again, blood will be spilt-"

I was cut off by Vincent's chuckles. I frowned at him, "What?"

"Yuffie," he set me down on his bed gently, "stop talking."

* * *

**Phew. I'm awfully tired lately. I dunno what's wrong with me. Meh. :(**

**Anyways, hope you liked that chapter. Although, it was kind of a filler really. Ahem. So, moving swiftly on...next chapter should be slightly more eventful. If you're lucky.**

**Thanks for reading! I heart you! :)**

**xoxo**


	21. Hypocritical

**Hey. :) I hope you're well, 'cos I'm not. Meh. I think I'm gonna sleep some more, after this.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Though I am going to attempt to overthrow Square Enix in the near future. Their empire will soon be mine, and I will only share it with reviewers. :D**

* * *

It had been two months…in which Kai hadn't contacted me once. I'd _seen_ him once, but I don't wanna think about that right now. I'm busy thinking of nicer things…like the two glorious months of bliss with Vincent I'd had. I was completely happy right now.

Well…almost.

"I hate these sneaky bastards!" I suddenly announced, slamming down the file I had been going over for the _sixth _time.

"Agreed." Vincent said, closing his own file and pinching the bridge of his nose as though he had a headache. I sighed tiredly.

"Aspirin?" I asked, as though it was the mother of all drugs.

"Please."

I stood up and stretched gladly. We'd been going over the remnants files for weeks, and come up with nothing. They'd just vanished off the face of Gaia. I opened the cupboard where Vinnie kept his drugs (only for medicinal purposes, of course), and grabbed a packet of painkillers.

"They've obviously not been causing anymore trouble, if we can't locate them." I mused as poured some water into a glass.

"Or they have gotten better at avoiding us." Vincent commented, sounding a little weary. I pouted.

"Maybe, but who could possibly avoid _you? _Creepy vampire stalker." I told him, handing him the pills and water. He raised an eyebrow at me before putting the aspirin into his mouth. I smiled cheekily at him, before turning away to sort the files back into their correct boxes. I'd have liked very much to burn them, but I don't think Reeve would appreciate me destroying all our remnant info. I stacked the boxes on the dining table resentfully.

When I turned back around, I saw Vincent watching me. I sent him an questioning look, and he patted his lap invitingly. I smiled and made my way over to the armchair he was sitting in -the one he _always _sat in- and curled up in his lap like a loyal cat wanting affection.

And affection was what I got. He snaked his claw arm around me and reached up to stroke my hair with his other hand, before leaning down slightly and kissing me on the nose. I giggled. See what I mean about being blissfully happy?

Then someone knocked on the door, and I made a noise of disappointment before announcing, "I'll get it."

I made to get up, but Vincent wouldn't let me go. His arms tightened around me instead, and he pressed his lips to mine briefly. The person knocked again.

"Vince, you're not very good at this social stuff, are you? When someone knocks on your door, it's expected that you answer it." I told him, trying not to laugh. He "hn"ed before letting me get up and answer the door.

I swung the door open and grinned, "Tenya?" I exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

She smiled at me, "I've come collect you, Princess Yuffie. Master Kai has requested your return to Wutai."

My grin vanished instantly. I felt Vincent come up to stand behind me, "Who is this?" he asked, slightly curious.

"Oh…um, this is Tenya, my first maid. Tenya, this is Vincent, my…friend."

"Nice to meet you." Tenya smiled at him. I think he nodded to her, but I couldn't see.

"There is an airship waiting, Yuffie." she informed me, "I'll help you pack, if you like."

"You're leaving?" Vincent sounded crestfallen. Well, to me he did. To Tenya his tone probably didn't change. Or maybe it did; she's perceptive that way. I turned to face him, hoping to reassure him with a look. I don't think it worked.

"Why does Kai want me to go back to Wutai? Does he realise how long the journey is?" I asked, turning back to Tenya.

"He didn't say, Lady. He just said it was very urgent and important you come back."

I sighed, "He is such a pain in the ass."

I didn't want to go back, but Kai _had_ said he'd need help with Wutai soon, and it had been a while since I'd seen my homeland. I was sort of neglecting it. I turned to Vincent again, communicating with my eyes. I knew he was reluctant to let me go, but eventually he nodded in understanding.

"You don't have to help me pack Tenya, I can manage. Where's the airship waiting?"

"Just outside Edge, not that far a walk away. Should I wait outside for you?"

"Yeah, I'll be ten minutes." I told her. She smiled and nodded, turning to leave before I closed the door.

"I'm sorry Vinnie," I said, "you know I don't want to go."

He sighed as we headed back into his living room again, "It's alright. If it's important, you need to go."

I looked at him sadly. "Yeah…" I mumbled, "I'll go grab some stuff then."

I made my way into his bedroom where I opened our wardrobe and grabbed some clothes, stuffing them into a large shoulder bag. I paused as I was about to close the doors, gazing at the few items of clothing Vincent owned. He almost always wore his leather suit and red cloak combo, but he did have some _normal _looking clothes that I had bought for him. I bit my lip, before taking a plain black t-shirt of his and folding it neatly, placing it into my bag. It's not like he'd miss it.

I stepped back into the living room, where Vincent was waiting. I smiled slightly and walked over to him, "…I'll call you."

He nodded. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down a little, but he didn't comply like I expected him to.

"You need to go." he said, reaching his hands up to untangle himself from me.

"Oh. Right." I let go obediently, slightly disappointed. He was mad at me for having to leave, I could tell.

"Um…bye, then." I said, turning and walking towards the hallway.

"Goodbye." his reply was so quiet I barely heard it. I stopped.

'_Oh, fuck it.' _I thought, turning around and running back, jumping into Vincent's arms unexpectedly like a ten year old. He was caught off guard, and stumbled backwards a few steps, but managed to stay upright. I wrapped my arms and legs around him and held on like the restoration of Wutai depended on it.

"I don't want to go." I mumbled into his neck, _sounding_ like a ten year old. He sighed, but it sounded vaguely amused.

"It's urgent you do, apparently." he replied, supporting my most of my weight with one arm, as the other rubbed my back.

"Don't care." I told him, lightly digging my nails into the base of his neck to get my point across.

He sighed again, "You can't neglect your duties."

"Yeah I can."

Vincent's hands moved from their comforting/supporting position, and instead both of them rested on my waist as he attempted to prise me off him. I gripped him even tighter, hoping to stay locked there.

"Yuffie, let go."

"No." I responded stubbornly, clutching at him. He chuckled once.

"…Come on, I'll walk you to the airship." he coaxed gently.

I made a loud noise of protest.

He thought for a moment, "…I have a gift for you, if you'll let go."

Ooh…tempting. "…What kind of gift?"

"You'll have to let go to find out."

I pressed my lips together, thinking, "It better be good."

"I think you'll like it." he told me, squeezing my waist.

Slowly, I loosened my grip on his neck, and pulled back to look at him, "Is it materia?"

"No." he answered, smirking slightly. I pouted.

"Then no deal."

"But it is an antique. And rather pretty."

I liked pretty things. And shiny things. It would hurt to see it.

"…Fine then." I unwrapped my legs from around his waist, and he set me on the ground gently.

Not completely letting go of my waist, he guided me over to the fireplace. I tried not to let the curiosity show on my face as he opened a small, decorative box made of oak. "Close your eyes." he requested quietly. I did so, and he let go of my waist. I couldn't help but crack one eye open to watch him.

"…No peaking." he said. I snapped my eye shut again.

One, two, three, four, five…I counted the seconds, before I felt something cool around my neck. I opened my eyes quickly and looked down.

Vincent was fastening a locket around my neck. I raised my hand and touched it briefly.

"Oh, wow." I whispered. The locket was small and heart shaped, and rested just below the hollow of my throat from the silver chain it hung from. It _was _incredibly pretty. And forget _shiny_, it _glittered _with the little diamonds adorning it. You know what they say, diamonds are a girls best friend, and I had a feeling me and this necklace were going to get along like a house on fire.

He moved to stand in front of me, "…It was my mothers, so it's quite old, but it still works."

"Works?" I asked. He smiled a little, before reaching up to open it with careful fingers.

I gasped as the locket began to play a melody for me. I could even see the little cog wheels on one side of it turning as it played. On the other side of it was an inscription that read;

'Eh seht, puto yht raynd.' It meant, 'In mind, body and heart.'

I opened my mouth to ask, but Vincent beat me to it, "Yes. My mother was Wutaian."

I looked up at him, and was startled to discover my eyes were filling with tears, "Vincent…" I whispered, "you big jerk, you're making me cry."

I half laughed, half sobbed. He closed the locket gently, and embraced me.

"You don't like it?" he asked.

"No! I love it, too much!" I responded, "What if I break it? Oh god, that's sounds just like me…I'm so clumsy I'll-"

He silenced me with a brief kiss, before pulling back to look at me, "I know you'll take care of it."

I looked down at the locket again. I felt weird wearing it, like I wasn't…beautiful enough for it. It was just so perfect, with tiny, silver intricate swirls, surrounding the diamonds in a decorative symmetrical pattern. And it played a melody when opened! What kind of outta-this-world locket does that? I brushed it lightly with my index finger, biting my lip.

"I can't accept this Vinnie." I told him, looking back up again.

"Why ever not?" he asked, looking slightly hurt.

"I love it, I really do." I said hurriedly, "But it's…I dunno. _Too _beautiful. I feel like, I'm not worthy."

He blinked, then started to laugh.

"Vinnie! Don't laugh at me! I'm serious!"

He shook his head, still chuckling, "You're a strange little thing, Yuffie Kisaragi."

I frowned at him until he stopped laughing.

"How could _you_ not be worthy of anything?" he said, "You silly girl, you deserve the world."

He kissed me again, a sweet, long-lasting one this time. Don't ask me how, but the way his lips tasted never failed to make my knees turn to jelly. When we broke apart, I realised my fingers had become tangled in his hair, and my lips were tingling madly. And my knees were _still _wobbling, damn it!

"I want you to have it; do with it as you please." he said, sounding a little out of breath, "It's yours now."

I took a deep breath, "O-okay…thank you."

He smiled, and stroked my cheek with his the back of his hand, "I love you."

"I love you too." I responded gently, leaning up for another kiss.

-x-

As Tenya slowly and gently combed through my hair, I got more and more annoyed.

"Tenya, just tell me where the hell he is!" I commanded, turning in my seat to face her, "I don't see why I have to get dressed up just to find out what this big emergency is!"

"Master Kai requested you look your best." she said cryptically. I tried to growl, but I think it came out more like a whine. "There. All done. You look beautiful Yuffie." she said, squeezing my shoulders and smiling. I turned back to the mirror, and noted that I did look quite nice. A little makeup can go a long way.

"I don't like this kimono." I said, tugging at the long sleeves, "It's _pink._"

"A light pink though." Tenya said, "I know that's the one you despise the least."

"It's still pink." I pouted.

She sighed, "Come on, Prince Kai is waiting for you."

I stood up and followed her out of my (oh, and Kai's) room. She escorted me through the throne room, where Godo nodded to me once in greeting. I granted him a look, before continuing to the palace gardens.

"Tenya, could you at least tell me…wow." I think my eyes widened to the size of diner plates.

There were pretty, multicoloured oriental lanterns that hung from a white canopy, over a small, circular dining table. Standing near the table was Kai, looking decidedly handsome in a men's kimono. He smiled at me as he walked over.

"Good evening, Princess." He said, taking my hand and kissing it lightly.

"What's all this?" I asked, astonished.

"This, my dear," Kai gestured to the table, "is a particularly romantic dinner for two, that will have three fantastically delicious courses, thought-provoking conversation and more wine than is strictly necessary."

I laughed, "So wait, _this _is the 'very urgent and important' reason I had to come back?"

"Essentially, yes." he answered unashamedly, "But there _is_ a lot of work to be done…later."

I laughed again, "Okay…"

"Thanks for delivering her, Tenya." Kai said to her as he led me towards the table.

"You are most welcome, sir." she replied as she bowed a little, before retreating back into the palace.

He led me away from the patio towards the centre of the garden, where there was a large, raised platform made of stone. He pulled a chair out for me, and I sat.

"Well…this was unexpected." I commented as he sat down.

"Good. I wanted to surprise you." he responded, opening a bottle of red wine, "Would you like some wine, dearest?" he offered, pouring some for himself first. I grinned.

"Yes please, good sir." I said, laughing. He chuckled as he poured some into my wineglass.

"So what's the occasion?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you. It's been a while since I've seen you." he said, "How have you been?"

I smiled, "Great. You?"

"Okay. Working hard, as always. I missed you."

"I missed you too." I lied, "How's my old man lately?"

"Fine, as far as I'm aware. You didn't see him?"

"Didn't talk to him." I answered shortly. Kai nodded once in understanding.

"…And here comes our starter. We are having rice cakes with a variety of dipping sauces." Kai informed me as a maid made her way across the garden.

"Sounds yummy." I replied. Now that I thought about it, I _was _kinda hungry.

The maid set the large plate in the middle of the table and bowed to us before leaving. I picked up a rice cake and dipped a little into a dark red sauce, before popping it into my mouth.

"Good?" Kai asked. I nodded, before swallowing.

"Really good." I said, picking up another rice cake. He smiled, taking one himself.

"Um…how have things been here?" I asked.

"So so. The people seem happy, now that Wutai is growing again." he responded. I smiled.

"That's good."

He nodded. "What about your friends in Edge? How are they?"

"They're very well, thank you. Tifa really enjoyed our spa weekend, Cloud's missing quite a bit of gil, and Vincent…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say, "well, he enjoys moping around his apartment all day, unless he's working."

Kai nodded, "Huh."

I took a gulp of my wine, feeling awkward.

"Oh, what about your missions?" he asked.

I frowned, "They haven't been going so well lately. These remnants are so…" I trailed off again.

"Annoyingly skilled and deceptive?" he supplied. I nodded.

"Yeah, exactly."

Most of the dinner past quickly, while Kai encouraged me to talk about work and the WRO. We had sushi for the main course, along with some spare ribs thrown in too. I'd hoped there would be cake for dessert, but ice cream was just as good. I was enjoying myself, surprisingly. Kai really _was _charming, after all.

"I think the cooks have outdone themselves." I commented, scooping more chocolate ice cream into my mouth.

"I agree. I think it's because you've come back. Everyone's happy you're here…especially me."

I smiled gently, "Glad to know I'm so loved."

Kai reached across the table and threaded his fingers with my own. "I love you, you know."

"Me too." I responded, smiling.

He sighed, "Do you? Really?"

I blinked, then swallowed loudly, setting down my spoon. "…Yes. Of course."

A corner of his mouth lifted, "I don't think you do."

My heart began thumping madly, "What?"

"You obviously don't love me. Why is that?"

He looked like he was expecting an answer, but I had no clue what to say. Kai gazed at me impassively, before his eyes moved to my neck, and he frowned.

"That's a beautiful necklace." he murmured, "Where did you get it?"

I didn't see the point in lying…I couldn't think of a decent lie anyway; my thoughts were all over the place.

"Vincent gave it to me." I replied honestly. Kai snorted, looking annoyed.

"He's giving you gifts now? If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to court you."

"…Don't be ridiculous." I responded, wrenching my hand from his own, "Vincent's not like that. We're just good friends."

He was about to say more, but I decided it was best to steer the conversation away from me, and towards him.

"I don't know how you can say Vincent is trying to court me…" I said, "when I saw you doing just that to another woman."

He blanched, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't play dumb!" I snapped, "I saw you in Kalm, when Tifa and I had our spa weekend. You were with someone else, and I saw you buy her a bouquet of flowers and you walked away hand in hand. How _dare _you say Vincent would court me? You're so hypocritical!"

"How dare you talk to me that way!" he responded angrily, "Her name is Adrianna, I know her through Yuriko. She's just a good friend."

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself countering with something malicious. I could hardly talk, I was having an affair. It _was_ possible they could just be friends.

"I think we should go inside now, it's getting cold." I said tonelessly, standing up. I began to walk towards the palace, and Kai fell into step beside me.

"You shouldn't talk to me that way." he told me, "Have you no respect? You cannot talk back to your husband."

I snorted, "I'll do what I please! Honestly, I have _minimal_ respect for you. You have to _earn_ it, you don't just get my approval just because you're my husband!"

"You're so infuriating! Why must you be so difficult? Through everything, I still love you, and yet you have no respect for me?"

I stopped and turned to face him, "Stop saying you love me when it isn't true! We haven't known each other for long enough! I'm only yours on a piece of paper! I'll don't love you and I never will!"

Kai's arm was a blur, I didn't even have time to block. He slapped me across the face, hard. My head snapped to the side with the force, and my cheek instantly began to sting painfully.

"Do _not _talk back to me! You _will_ learn to respect me Yuffie! Now get inside!"

I stared at him in shock for a few moments, before I hurriedly obeyed.

* * *

**Dum dum dum. Shock horror. I love the drama! :D**

**In my head, that little locket plays the beginning of Davy Jones' theme from Pirates of the Caribbean. (Did you hear there's a fourth movie coming out? YAY!) :) Of course, it can play whatever you imagine it to. I so badly want a locket that can play a tune! Unfortunately, I don't think they exist. I was debating whether to use Al Bhed or Spanish for Wutaian. 'Cos I'm currently learning Spanish, but I decided Al Bhed would be better.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! Please drop a review if you have time!**

**xoxo**


	22. I Bruise Easily

**Good day. This chapter wouldn't _work. _Grr! One is not amused.**

**On the bright side, although Vinnie is only mentioned in passing in this chapter, he will be solidly present in the next one. Yay!**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

Kai apologised to me the next morning, over breakfast.

"Yuffie…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to; I just…snapped. And I regret it so much. Please, _please _forgive me?"

I munched on my cereal slowly, keeping my eyes down, "…Go to hell."

I wasn't going to forgive him. He didn't deserve it.

"Please Yuffie…" he reached over the table to take my hand, but I quickly snatched it away from him.

"_Don't _touch me." I told him, keeping my voice deliberately calm. He retracted his hand slowly. I felt him stare at me for a few silent moments.

"I really am sorry." he mumbled, before leaving me alone.

Last night there was a hand shaped, red raw mark on the right side of my face, and the corner of my eye was beginning to bruise. When I looked in the mirror this morning there were small, black and blue blotches around the corner and underneath my eye, and along my jaw. It wasn't as bad as it looked, but my cheek felt quite sore. Oh yeah, I'd told Godo, and shown him the bruises Kai had put on my face. He said it was about time someone disciplined me, and maybe now I'd learn to behave myself. The _asshole _actually said that! My own father!

I had a pretty good idea what Vincent's opinion would be. Only, I couldn't tell him; my mobile phone had gone missing. I figured I must have left it in Edge. Which totally _sucked _because now I couldn't contact anyone. The only person who actually owned a cell phone within a one mile radius was Kai. And I couldn't exactly say, "Can I use your phone to call my secret lover and tell him you hit me?" So…I was stuck.

No, I mean, _really _stuck. Because both Godo and Kai had agreed I wasn't allowed to leave the palace until my bruises had faded completely. So then the public wouldn't ask unwanted questions, you see.

I hated them both. _Pricks._

I sighed quietly to myself, before abandoning my still full bowl of cereal. I wasn't really in the mood for eating; I wasn't hungry anyway.

-x-

"…I think we should move out of the palace."

"Huh?" I asked, raising my eyes to meet Kai's brown/gold ones. It was the first thing I had said to him since breakfast. We were currently sorting through a mountain of paperwork together.

"Let's buy a house, on the other side of Wutai. Grass might be greener there."

I blinked, "What are you saying?"

Kai sighed, smiling, "Maybe it would be better for us if we got away from Godo."

I frowned at him over his pile of folders, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I know you don't really like hanging around him. And if he's not around, I'll be put under less pressure to work." he told me, motioning to the stack of paperwork between us.

I put down my pen, considering. "I guess…that would be good."

He smiled, looking relieved. "Great. You wanna leave as soon as possible?"

I nodded, "When's good for you?"

"I'll sort something out for tomorrow."

He smiled at me warmly, and I gave a hesitant smile back.

"Um, I'll be back in a minute; need to use the rest room." I said, standing up.

"No problem." he replied, returning to his work.

I didn't _really _need to pee, I was just sick of working, and Kai had never heard of this thing called a _break_. Slowly, I climbed the flight of stairs leading to our bedroom, wondering when it would be socially acceptable to head back to Edge again.

…Not for a while, unfortunately. I frowned sullenly as I entered our room, closing the door behind me and throwing myself on the bed. There I lay sprawled out for a while, before rolling onto my back and touching my locket absently.

I missed Vincent. Already.

I sat up and opened the locket gently. As the sweet melody filled the room, I smiled and closed my eyes. This was mine and Vinnie's song from now on, and it was soothing beyond comprehension. I opened my eyes and read the inscription, 'In mind, body and heart.' The meaning came to me quickly…we belonged to each other in those ways, and they were the most important. Ah, how fitting. I smiled, watching the little cogs turning as the locket rested in my palm.

Pouting, I closed it carefully. It doesn't take anyone this long to go to the bathroom. I stood up and turned to leave, when something caught my eye.

Something familiarly blue was protruding out of Kai's jacket pocket, which was slung over my dressing chair carelessly. I reached into the pocket…and retrieved my cell phone.

My jaw dropped open slightly. That no good thieving son of a-!

Okay, yeah, _I_ was a thief. But still! _I _have special rights! No one steals from _me. No one!_

I flipped it open and saw I had three missed calls from Vincent. Which, if translated correctly, meant he _really _wanted to speak to me, as he attempted to get hold of me more than once.

Oh, Kai was gonna _pay._

I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room, taking extra care to make my steps heavy so I _thundered _down the stairs. Kai looked up warily when I entered, radiating an aura of pissed-off-ness.

"Why was _my_ phone in _your _jacket pocket?" I asked accusingly. He sighed, setting down his pen.

"…You weren't supposed to find that." he stated, scratching the back of his head.

"Well I did, so start explaining!"

He sighed again. "I dunno, I just…wanted you all to myself for a while."

I blinked, "Excuse me?"

"When have I ever had you completely to myself, just the two of us?" I opened my mouth to reply, but he answered his own question, "Hardly ever. And I don't think that's fair, considering I am your husband."

"Yeah, that's sweet, but taking my phone is just-"

"Hush." he cut me off. I frowned angrily, about to retort, when he stood up and snatched the phone out of my hand.

"Kai!" I tried to take it back, but he held it out of my grasp.

"You can have it back later." he told me. I couldn't believe he had the _audacity._

"No! It's _mine, _and I want it back _now!_"

"Why do you need it anyway? You've spent ample time with your Avalanche friends, surely you don't need to call them the very next day after your departure. You're more than enough for me, aren't I enough for you?"

That brought me up short. "O-of course you are. I just…"

Kai cocked his head to the side, waiting for me to continue. I didn't have an answer.

"See? You can live with out it for a while." he told me, dropping the phone into his trouser pocket, "I'll keep it safe for you."

"Um…okay." I responded, reluctantly giving in. He smiled.

"That's my girl." he said, tucking my hair behind my ears and kissing my parted lips lightly, before leaving the room.

…What the hell just happened?

-x-

The place wasn't that bad. It wasn't big, but it was…cosy. It had a cottage-like feel that I really loved. And it was already furnished and everything. I took off the oversized sunglasses Kai had insisted I wear to cover the worst of the bruising.

"Are you sure we can just…move in?" I asked. Kai nodded.

"I'll pay for it in the morning." he replied, sitting on the sofa.

"Can we do that?"

"Of course."

I shook my head and made myself busy with unpacking.

"I'd help, but I'm exhausted." Kai commented, putting his feet up. I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

"That's okay." I responded grudgingly.

So I continued to unpack everything we owned, while he dozed on the sofa. At about nine, I decided I'd unpack the rest tomorrow.

"Kai," I kicked the sofa, and he jerked awake, "I'm going to bed."

"Mm, I'm coming in a second." he responded sleepily. I picked up a bag with my clothes in and headed upstairs. There were two bedrooms, and I guessed Kai would prefer the bigger one, so I hung some clothes in the wardrobe there. Then I came across a black t-shirt that wasn't mine. A smile spread across my face; I'd forgotten about that. I picked it up and rubbed it against my cheek nostalgically. It smelled like Vincent….I thought for a moment, wondering if I could get away with it. I could just say it was mine, and that I'd bought it to use as a nightshirt. I grinned, quickly stripping off and pulling it on. It was even surprisingly soft. This t-shirt was so _mine_ now…sorry Vinnie. I crawled into bed and took off my locket, putting it onto the bedside table draw slowly.

…I wanted to talk to Vincent so badly. Where had Kai put my phone? In his trouser pocket? He'll have probably hid it somewhere by now. Still…worth a try.

I got out of bed and tip-toed down the stairs as quietly as I could. Kai was fast asleep on the sofa, snoring lightly. I sauntered over to him, smiling when I saw his pocket was mobile phone shaped. Teehee. Using my incredible thieving fingers, I began to slide the phone out of his pocket slowly.

He stirred in his sleep, and I froze for a moment. When he brought a hand to his face, yawning, I ducked behind the sofa. I heard him get up and climb the stairs slowly. Damn it! I got up from my crouched position behind the sofa and followed after him.

He was shrugging off his jacket when I entered the bedroom, and he glanced at me, "There you are."

Then he did a double take, "What are you wearing?"

Uh oh. "This?" I asked rhetorically, picking at the shirt, "I bought it ages ago to use as a nightie. Don't you like it?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking me over. I felt a little self conscious, since the shirt only came to my mid-thigh. He smirked slightly, "I'm not complaining."

Phew. Good. I watched him take off his shirt, pondering the methods I could use to get back my phone. As I slid into bed, I decided I'd just have to wait until he was asleep.

Kai switched off the lights and slid under the covers next to me, before pulling me to his bare chest and nuzzling my shoulder, "You smell nice."

I cleared my throat and smiled wryly, "Thanks. You do too." He didn't smell nearly as good as this shirt though. Vincent's scent remains unchallenged as the no.1 men's perfume on Gaia.

Eventually, Kai fell asleep, and I gently removed his arms from around me. I got out of bed quietly, trying not to disturb my husband too much. I snuck over to where his trousers lay, reaching into the pocket and grabbing the phone.

A hand grabbed my wrist and jerked me back. "Yuffie, I said you don't need that."

I struggled to get my arm free, "Yes I do! You can't-"

The phone was snatched out of my hand, "I think you'll find I can." Kai said, pushing me onto the floor roughly.

I got back up quickly, grabbing his arm, "Give me it!"

"No." he responded calmly.

I made a grab for it, but was pushed into the wall forcefully. I struggled, and he grabbed both my wrists in one hand. "You listen to me," he spoke slowly and deliberately, "you can have your phone back when I say you can. I'm your husband, therefore you need my permission to do…pretty much everything."

"I don't need your permission to do anything!" I snarled angrily.

He sighed, "You're testing my patience again Yuffie."

"Good! Give me my god damn phone-!"

I was silenced with a knee to the gut, and I keeled over.

"I said no!" he told me angrily.

It took a moment to catch my breath, "I don't care what you-"

"Fine. You see this?" he held my phone in front of me, before throwing it down on the floor violently, breaking it. My eyes widened. He stomped on it once, grounding it into the floor.

"You can have it back now." he said, kicking it towards me. I gaped at the broken pieces of my mobile phone.

"Stand up." he commanded. I glared at him, unmoving.

He grabbed my arm and wrenched me up. "It seems the only way I can get you to obey me is to _make_ you. Well, if that's what you want."

He threw me onto the bed, "You are not to leave this house without my permission, you hear me?"

"I can do whatever the hell I like!" I yelled, standing up. Kai made a frustrated sound.

"You'll do as I say! And don't talk back!" he said, "You are not to see _any _of your friends anymore."

I gasped, "What?"

"You heard. You're not allowed to see anyone unless I say so."

Everything seemed to freeze for a second, and before I knew what I was doing, my fist was suddenly flying towards my husbands face. He wasn't quick enough to block it, and my fist impacted against his jaw forcefully. Kai sucked in a breath through his teeth; he usually did that when he was in pain. I smiled smugly, but it was almost instantly wiped off my face when he grabbed my throat and squeezed, slamming me into the wall again in the process.

"Don't _ever_ do that again." he said dangerously, "Or else."

I made a choked sound -struggling to breathe- and he dropped me, letting me slide to the floor. He knelt down so he was at my level. "I expect you understood everything I just said?"

I nodded, gasping.

"Good girl." he stood up, "I'll sleep on the sofa tonight."

I watched him walk out, still breathing heavily. I felt that burning sensation behind my eyes, and made no attempt to stop the tears that rolled down my cheeks. After releasing a few strangled sobs, I scrambled over to the bedside table, where I took my locket out of the drawer. I opened it with trembling fingers, sighing in relief when the melody sounded in the darkness. Still crying quietly, I crawled under the duvet and curled into a ball, listening to the soothing tune and breathing in Vincent's scent.

* * *

**...I feel so mean to poor Yuffie. Vincent's going to save her next chapter though, so that should be...exciting. :)**

**And another thing, I wanna give cyber hugs to the people who reviewed last chapter. I got 18 whole reviews? 0_0 My expression right now, is one of incredulity. I heart you. But...I bet you all just want a slice of Squares' Empire when I take over, right? I thought so. XD And I so _will _take over...some day.**

**Thanks so much for reading!**

**xoxo**


	23. Under Lock And Key

**Hi. :) Okay, I know I said Vinnie was gonna kick Kai's butt and get Yuffie out of Wutai...but a _better_ idea occured to me as I was halfway through writing this chapter. So then I had to start again...but it'll be worth it! I hope.**

**Anonymous review replies:**

**Buttons; Woah, you read all this in one go? Non-stop? I can't do that. I must have a _long_ ice cream break (or two) in the middle of a story. Meh, I'm weird, I know. _Anyway, _I'm so happy you think I write Vincent well! I can never get him just right. But yeah, thanks for your review!**

**RjLikesCupcakes; Eek! Please, don't throw a tantrum! The next chapter's here now! :D I hope you like it...and nice name by the way, I like cupcakes too. :P Yummy. Thank you for reviewing!**

***Sigh* I don't own Final Fantasy VII...(note the sullen tone).**

* * *

I passed the time with yoga.

Don't ask me why. I learnt it from my Sensei. Kai was never in the house in the afternoons, so I was left to my own devices most of the time. Only, I couldn't leave the house. Plus this place had no television! What _else _was I supposed to do? Hence the yoga. It relaxed me considerably.

So…I'd have breakfast, Kai would leave in order to do some form of work, I'd clean the house, then I'd get a mat and start with the yoga in the living room. I'd do that for most of the day, taking regular breaks for food, until Kai would get home in the evenings. I'd make him dinner (not without difficulty), and we'd talk about our day. His were always much more eventful than mine, of course. Then we'd go to bed and sleep. The next day, the routine would start over again.

Not that I didn't rebel vehemently against this routine at first. I either completely ignored Kai, or answered to him with sarcastic and/or cruel comments. I _did_ go outside, but only to the back garden where no one could see me. And when Kai told me to make dinner, I usually did something along the lines of spitting in his food, or making his way too spicy, or (on one occasion) serving a tin of dog food I passed off as stew. Cue evil laugh.

Slowly though…I stopped doing these things, not seeing the point, or getting the satisfaction I used to get out of it. I knew what was happening, I wasn't stupid. Kai was slowly moulding me into the traditional Wutain wife. And I didn't like it _at all. _What was worse was that there wasn't really anything I could do about it. Kai had cut me off from the outside world, without my phone, and not being able to go out in public. Even if I did run away, where would I go? I had no money to get anywhere. I couldn't call Cid to pick me up. Besides, as soon as I set one foot out of the door, the public would unwittingly alert Kai and he'd drag me back.

I felt so helpless. In fact, scratch that…I felt like a caged animal. The only time I felt _free_ was when it rained, and I opened the bedroom window as wide as it would go and stuck my head and arms out.

On this particular day however, I'd just finished doing some warm up stretches, when there was a knock at the door.

I froze in the 'half moon' pose. Who could it possibly be? More importantly, should I answer it? Kai had told me not to, should this situation arise.

So I walked over to the door and opened it just a crack.

My little bubble of hope burst almost painfully when I saw it wasn't Vincent.

"Tenya! Xian! What are you doing here?" I asked, opening the door a little wider.

They both gasped as their jaws dropped open.

"Lady Yuffie, w-what happened to you?" Xian asked, shocked.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. The bruises I'd had on my face two weeks ago had long since faded. Kai had just felt the need to put some more there whenever I refused to do something he wanted. There were a fair few all over my body actually. But I wasn't weak, I could take it. And I most certainly _never _cried in front of him.

"Kai." I answered shortly, then realised my mistake, "Oh crap! But you never saw anything, okay?"

"Master Kai did _that?_" Tenya sounded outraged.

"Tenya shh!" I said, looking around outside nervously, before ushering them both inside and shutting the door swiftly.

"He's been hurting you?" asked Tenya seriously.

"Take a look at me, what do you think?" I snapped, but regretted it instantly, "Sorry Tenya." I apologised, pacing around the room, "You shouldn't be here, if Kai finds out he'll…gawd, I don't even wanna think about it."

"Princess Yuffie…what should we do?" Xian asked worriedly.

"Nothing!" I answered quickly, "You're not supposed to know. If you tried to help me, Kai would kick my ass, and fire you."

"But Yuffie, we have to do something!" said Tenya.

"Do what Tenya? The only person powerful enough to overrule Kai is Godo, and he seems to be on his side!"

"Why would he be?" Xian said quietly, almost to herself. I stopped and stared at her.

"How the fuck do I know?" I exclaimed. I vaguely registered Tenya reprimanding me for my foul language before I continued, "My fathermust think this _traditional,_" I spat the word, "treatment is good for me."

Neither of them had anything to say to that.

I resumed my pacing. "Godo seems to think Kai can do no wrong. The bastard was in his good books from the very beginning…" I muttered bitterly.

Tenya and Xian exchanged a look.

"Princess Yuffie…" Xian started quietly, "I have been a servant of the Kisaragi family all my life."

I stopped pacing to listen to her, wondering where she was going with this.

"Since I was five, I was taught how a Wutainese woman should behave. There is of course much more pressure on you to behave in this certain way, being our Lady. But I often wondered whenever I saw you, why you always seemed to be the exact _opposite_ of how we were expected to act. For eleven years, as you grew, I was constantly told by my elders that your behaviour was discourteous and impertinent. The way you talked to your father and the council members, your bold actions, all of it was disrespectful to Wutai and it's people. I agreed with these statements, having being taught the 'traditional' way. But…now I am sixteen years old, and my father has arranged for me to marry by the time I am eighteen. _Now_ I finally understand your rebellious nature. Without you, I would never have come to realise there is another way to live, a better way. Or that Wutai is in dire need of…modernising. You are going be the one to do this, Princess, and you most certainly should be a role model for the women of Wutai." she paused for a moment, "It worries me that you did not interrupt me once throughout that little speech. That is a bad sign."

"I-I just…don't understand what you're trying to say." I responded, surprised.

She smiled, "Though I have been taught you are…unrefined, I now know you are just what Wutai needs. You are the hope and future of this country, Princess Yuffie. We cannot allow for you to be turned into a mindlessly obedient robot, like ourselves. We are going to help you get out of this situation, Lady."

My eyes lit up, "Oh…Xian, Tenya, would you?"

Xian smiled warmly and nodded. "We are nothing if not loyal." Tenya replied.

I grinned. Commence operation, G.T.H.O.W. Aka, get the hell outta Wutai.

-x-

I felt secure wrapped up in my shawl, but still nervous as I walked down the street with Tenya and Xian at either side of me. I had to wear a kimono instead of my usual attire, so as not to stand out. Thankfully, it was working so far.

"Just down here." Xian said, pointing in the direction of her fathers house. We all automatically sped up a little.

"Will your father allow this?" I asked.

"Of course not." she responded, opening the door and ushering us inside.

"There is a phone in the kitchen, just through that door. Be quick!" Xian whispered, before walking through to the living room. "Father, I've come to visit." we heard her announce as she shut the door.

Tenya pulled me along to the tiny kitchen, where I picked up the phone on the wall. I dialled Cid's number as quickly as I could.

"Oh…please answer, you-old-chain-smoking-tea-enthusiast." I muttered, praying to Leviathan with my fingers crossed. The phone rang five times…

"Hello?" A familiarly gruff voice asked. I let out the breath I'd been holding.

"Cid! You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice!"

"…What the fuck have you been smokin' kid?"

I let out a half relieved, half amused laugh. And then was "Shush"ed, by Tenya.

"Okay, I have to be quick. Please, please, _please _can you come pick me up from Wutai?" I whisper screamed.

"You want me to get you outta trouble again, brat?"

"I'll explain later, just…_please_, I am _begging!_"

I heard an irritated sigh from the other end of the line, "Alright, I'm coming…ya troublesome little sh-"

"Oh thank you, old man! I owe you big time! I'll be near Da Chao."

"Yeah yeah, I'm on my way." he responded, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Wait, Cid, tell Vincent-"

"Princess, you need to leave now!" I heard Xian whisper behind me. I dropped the phone in surprise, and Tenya picked it up and pressed the 'end call' button.

"Come on, quickly!" Tenya said quietly, pushing me out of the door. I turned back.

"Thank you Xian." I said sincerely. She beamed and nodded.

"Hurry!" she muttered, closing the door behind us.

Myself and Tenya walked quickly to Da Chao mountain, trying not to look like guilty suspects. I kept my head down, and Tenya stuck close to my side until we reached the base of the mountain.

"Tenya, you need to get back to the palace." I told her.

"I think I should stay here with you until-"

"You've already done so much…and Kai will begin to suspect something if you've suddenly disappeared for hours."

"Good point." she said, "I wish you a safe journey, Yuffie."

I smiled and hugged her, "Thank you."

She nodded and turned to leave. I watched her walk away until she was out of sight, before I sat down and waited. And I knew it was going to be one very _long _wait.

"…I told you not to leave the house."

I gasped and jumped up, whirling around to face the direction the voice had come from.

_Oh shit. _"Kai…"

He stared down at me impassively from a rocky ledge near the base of the mountain. We stared at each other for a few seconds, before he neatly jumped down with a ninja's grace and landed next to me. I hurriedly retreated backwards a good few paces.

"H-how did y-you know-?" I asked.

"I have people watching the house, and watching you. I knew you'd try to escape eventually…and I was right. You disobeyed me." he murmured.

I gritted my teeth and waited for his wrath to hit. He walked towards me slowly, drawing one nunchuck. My eyes widened, he'd never used his weapons before.

"Tell me, Yuffie," he said, beginning to circle me, "why do you always feel the need to defy me?"

I swallowed nervously, staying silent.

"Like now, for example." he chuckled, before something metal impacted with my shoulder from behind, and I bit back a scream. His weapon left an angry red mark that throbbed painfully. Unfortunately, I knew he could hit me harder if he wanted to.

"I asked you a question, I expect it to be answered!" he commanded.

"I don't know." I told him, hoping I didn't sound like I was in pain.

"How informative…_you don't know._" he muttered sarcastically. I took a deep breath, swallowing my pride.

"Kai…I'm sorry I-"

He backhanded me, and I staggered to the side before managing to regain my balance.

"Shut up!" he ordered angrily, "You disgust me! You don't deserve to be part of the Iitaka family."

"…Good! Because I never even wanted to be, and I still don't now!" I announced strongly.

Something cold and hard hit me round the back of the head, and the last thing I saw was the ground rushing towards me as everything went black.

-x-

When I awoke, I realised I was in my bedroom. Which was not a good thing.

Now there was no chance of escape. I didn't know how long I'd been out for, but Cid probably wouldn't wait. In fact, I'd bet he'd have left already.

Why Leviathan, do you subject me to such torture? Surely you don't think the traditional approach is the way forward, do you?

I wasn't expecting an answer, and I didn't get one, naturally.

I sighed, sitting up. Then I groaned, moving my hand to brush over the huge lump on my head. Ouch. I breathed deeply for a few seconds, before I swung my legs out of bed and stood up.

Walking down the stairs, I saw Kai was seated on the sofa, reading. I made my way over to him hesitantly. Though I knew he'd heard me, he didn't acknowledge my presence until I gently moved the book aside and slid deftly into his lap.

"I'm sorry." I apologised quietly, resting my head on his shoulder. He sighed.

"No…I'm sorry." he said, setting the book down and wrapping his arms around me, "I've been putting you through hell these past couple of weeks. I don't mean to hurt you. I just…I _know_ you have the potential to become a perfect Lady of Wutai."

My heart proudly swelled at the compliment before he continued, "And when you do, you'll become a person myself and your father can be proud of, you see? And the people will admire you so much more. You just have to do as you're told. Be polite, courteous and respectful. And _don't_ talk back."

I nodded, "I suppose…I can be really annoying at times." I commented. Kai began to stroke my hair, being careful not to aggravate the painful lump on my head.

"I love you, you know." he told me. My hand automatically came up to wrap around my locket.

"Yeah, me too." I replied.

We both fell silent for a while, until three loud knocks intruded the quiet, and we both looked over to the door. Kai shifted me off his lap, before pressing a finger to my lips, "Don't make a sound."

I nodded, and he moved to answer the door. I curled up on the sofa as he opened it.

"Iitaka." I deep voice greeted, and my heart leapt into my throat. _Vincent._

"Valentine. What brings you here?" Kai asked frostily.

"I came to visit Yuffie." Vincent responded just as coldly, "Is she here?"

'_Yes!' _I wanted to shout, but my throat felt constricted.

"No. She's been out in the forests camping for about four days now."

"I see. Do you know when she'll be back?" asked Vincent.

"She didn't say. I suppose you could look for her, but the Wutai area is rather big…"

…Kai had said not to make a sound…

"She called my friend earlier today, asking to be picked up from Da Chao. Do cell phones have a reception in Wutai's forests?"

"Not usually no. But maybe she called your friend from Da Chao, if that's where she asked to be picked up. Either way, I haven't seen her."

"…Apparently, she sounded panicked over the phone. Do you know anything about that?"

…But I couldn't let this opportunity slip away…

"Why would I?" Kai sneered.

"No reason. Thank you for your help." Vincent replied sarcastically, "I shall continue to search for your wife, as you don't seem to care much for her wellbeing."

Kai slammed the door rather forcefully. Ah crap. The tiny window of opportunity had passed. I mentally kicked myself.

"Why is _he _always the one that has to get involved in your business?" Kai asked angrily. I shrugged.

"Myself and Vincent have been partners on our missions for years; he's my closest friend." I answered timidly.

He didn't say anything, instead he paced around the room, breathing deeply.

I knew it was stupid. I knew Vincent was probably too far away to hear me now. But these thoughts didn't register in my mind as I sprung off the sofa and ran to the door, wrenching it open.

"VINCENT!" I screamed desperately as Kai grabbed me by the waist and dragged me back into the house, shutting the door behind us.

"You stupid bitch!" he said, throwing me down onto the floor and kicking me in the stomach, "I told you not to make a sound! So what do you go and do?" he asked rhetorically, kicking me again, and I yelped in pain.

-x-

Kai had locked me in our bedroom, where he said I'd stay until I could 'be trusted again'. He had gone to the palace to speak with Godo. I lay on my bed, having just finished a major crying fest. I was listening to my locket, and wearing Vincent's shirt. Only, his scent has started to fade now; maybe it was all the tears.

I jumped when I heard two sharp taps on glass. When I looked, I saw a tattered red cloud hovering outside the window, blocking out the fading sunlight. I rushed over and opened it quickly.

The red cloud flew inside and landed near the bed, where it seemed to swirl a couple of times before it became something undeniably solid.

"Vincent!" I exclaimed, practically tackling him. He 'oof'ed when I impacted with his chest.

"Hello Yuffie. So, _this_ is where my shirt got to." he replied, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing briefly, before he grabbed my shoulders and prised me off him to look at me.

His eyes widened, "What has happened?" he asked, gently swiping his thumb over my black eye.

I froze. If I told him, Kai would most certainly be murdered…painfully. And while that idea had it's appeal, I knew this whole thing wasn't really his fault…it was me that was the problem. I was a terrible Wutaian wife. Scratch that, I was a terrible wife; full stop…I was having an _affair _for Leviathan's sake!

I sighed and gave a wry smile, "I fell down the stairs. Just being my clumsy self. Kai was so worried…"

He stared at me, "Yuffie…do not lie to me."

"I'm not." I said, widening my eyes to imply innocence.

"Who did this?" he asked quietly, his voice already betraying an undercurrent of rage.

I mouthed wordlessly for a few seconds, before giving in, "Please don't kill him." I whispered.

That was all the answer he needed. "Kai…I thought so." he murmured, sounding enraged. His hands began to shake, and he clenched them into fists. Alarm bells started ringing when I saw his eyes were beginning to glow yellow; that meant one of his demons were about to come out and play. Hell Masker, I guessed by the ferocity of the glow.

"Vinnie, you can't go demon now, 'kay?" I told him in what I hoped was a soothing tone, "Look, there's no danger, see?"

"Yuffie, get back." he commanded, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut with the effort of holding back his transformation.

"No." I responded, shifting closer to him and placing my hands on his cheeks, "You don't need to transform."

He snarled. His skin felt heated under my palms, and I began to stroke his cheek softly. "I know you can control it. If you don't, you might hurt _me_."

He began to breathe deeply, trying to calm himself down. I continued to stroke his cheek, and moved my other hand to press against his chest, so I could feel his heartbeat. It was fast, even by average standards. Vincent exhaled in a gust, placing his human hand over the one I had on his cheek. I felt his eyelashes brush against my thumb as he opened his crimson eyes. He turned his head to kiss my palm, and I smiled.

"Fine, I won't tear him apart…but he won't get away with this." He told me, threading his fingers through mine as he pulled my hand away from his cheek.

"What are you going to do?" I asked worriedly.

Vincent frowned and brought his claw hand up to my arm, where he ran his thumb across the handprint shaped bruise there, caused by my wrist being gripped too tight. He seemed reluctant to answer, and instead pressed his lips to the inside of my wrist.

"…I'll take care of him." he finally murmured against my skin. I swallowed as he turned my hand around and examined my sore knuckles.

"Vince…you can't kill him." I told him seriously.

"Why ever not?" he asked lightly, as if we were discussing the weather.

"_Because _you can't just go around killing people. Um, the Turks being a morally corrupt exception..."

He smirked, "Technically, I _am _still a Turk. I was never fired, nor did I resign."

I snorted, "No, you just _died. _I think that certifies permanent sick leave."

He chucked faintly, before kissing my hand. "Alright, you win. I won't kill him…yet."

"Vincent…" I warned.

"I'll just put him in hospital." he assured me, letting go of my hand and heading towards the window. I jumped in front of him.

"_No_ Vincent! He's next in line for Wutai's _throne _damn it! Godo will be after your head if you hurt Kai!"

He growled in annoyance, "Then what do you suggest I do?"

I grinned, pressing myself against him, "…Kiss me better."

His eyes softened and he smiled slightly, before leaning down and kissing my forehead. His lips traced my brow, and I closed my eyes so he could kiss my eyelids, then my nose. From there, his lips made a path across my cheeks, and down to my chin, before finally claiming my lips.

* * *

**Okay..._next _chapter we're leaving Wutai. Pack your bags people. But do it quick, you don't wanna miss the fight! XD**

**Pretty please point out any spelling/grammar mistakes I may have made. I've looked through it, but I still have a feeling something's wrong...meh.**

**Thanks for reading! And reviewing! You all rock, you know that?**

**xoxo**


	24. Injuries Inside And Out

**Um, right. Not all too pleased with this chapter either. *Narrows eyes at computer screen* Stupid fight scene gave me so much trouble, my brain was just like "...", Vinnie style. Meh.**

**Anon reply: RjLikesCupcakes; Phew, I'm glad there's going to be no tantrum; the crisis has been averted. :D Here's the next chapter, so, um...can I have my cupcake now please?**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII. But I do own Kai's ass, which is soon going to be owned by Vincent, so...I'm not sure if I own him anymore. Ah well, on with the chapter!**

* * *

I was all set. My bags were packed; time to pick up operation G.T.H.O.W.

"So Cid's definitely waiting for us? You sure he-"

"Yes Yuffie, he's waiting for us on the Shera." Vincent interrupted in a patient tone, "He called me right after you asked him to come and pick you up."

"Good…glad to hear the old man can do some things right." I commented, relieved.

"Cloud also came, he was helping me look for you. He's waiting on the Shera also."

"Delivery boy came too? Aw, I feel so special!"

Vincent went to pick up my handbag and suitcase, but I grabbed them off him, "Gawd Vinnie, I can handle a couple of bags. If you really want to be a gentleman, be a dear and open the door for me. Oh, it's locked by the way."

He walked over to the door casually, before he broke the lock with his claw and swung the door open, "After you."

"Thank you." I said, smiling at him as I walked through the doorway and down the stairs, pulling along my suitcase. The sun was just beginning to set, which meant Kai would be back pretty soon. I _really _hoped we wouldn't run into him. And I was more concerned about _his _safety than my own.

"Vince…if we just so happen to run into Kai-"

He made a growling sound in his throat.

"Vinnie! I want you to promise you won't kill him!"

"…Alright. I promise." he replied, sounding slightly disappointed.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we stepped out of the front door, but then I remembered something, "Crap. Kai said he had people watching the house…"

"I know." Vincent responded.

"You know? Wait…you didn't shoot them did you?" I asked disapprovingly.

"Of course not." he said offhandedly, still walking along at a leisurely pace.

"…Vincent! You _wanted _them to alert Kai and get him over here!" I realised, throwing him an accusing look.

"I wanted nothing of the sort." he replied innocently.

"You will walk faster right now Vincent Valentine! We will _not_ confront Kai if we can help it!"

"As you wish. Though if I _did _kill him-"

"_No! _You promised!" I told him fiercely, "I would prefer if no one has to die, thank you."

He didn't reply, and instead picked up the pace. I walked faster too, glancing behind me nervously every now and then. I grinned when I saw the Shera at the base of Da Chao.

"For once, I'm actually looking forward to the motion sickness." I commented.

"I'm sure you won't feel that way when you are actually on the airship." he responded, smirking slightly.

I giggled, "Probably."

"Yuffie!" I heard a voice call. I turned, and my stomach dropped when I saw Kai was walking towards us.

Oh. Gawd. _Why? _We were _meters _away from the Shera damn it! So closeto a clean getaway…Leviathan was just _toying _with me now.

"Yuffie, get on the ship." Vincent ordered, turning to face Kai.

"What? No way! You're going to end up fighting!"

He glanced at me and spoke quietly, "That's what I'm hoping for."

Kai had reached us by then, and he stopped a few feet away, "Yuffie, where are you going?"

"She's coming with me." Vincent answered coolly before I could open my mouth.

"Like hell she is!" Kai retorted angrily, before turning to me, "You're not going anywhere."

Vincent stepped in front of me, "I don't like your tone. She can do whatever she wants, you can't stop her."

Well shit. This was _definitely _going to escalate into combat. I turned to the airship to get Cloud, to discover he was already walking towards us. Oh good, Leviathan hadn't forsaken me after all, I gestured to him to hurry up.

"She's _my_ wife, I think that gives me the right to know where she's going!"

"Ah…and because she is your wife, that gives you the right to abuse her?" Vincent said calmly and quietly.

I heard the crash of metal on metal, and spun round just in time to see that Vincent had blocked a swing from Kai's nunchuck with his claw arm. Kai jumped back to put some distance between himself and Vincent as he drew his gun.

"Cloud! Get the hell over here now!" I yelled, as Vincent fired Cerberus twice. Kai spun his nunchucks and deflected the bullets.

"Cloud, get Yuffie on the airship." Vincent told him as he reached us. He immediately grabbed my waist and began pulling me towards the Shera.

"No! Get off me! They're gonna kill each other!" I shrieked.

"Exactly! You need to get out of the way!" Cloud replied, still dragging me away from the scene. I struggled against him the best I could while watching my husband and my lover closely.

Kai was the fastest. One second he was deflecting Cerberus' bullets, then he seemed to glow a light blue and materialised out of thin air behind Vincent. My lover rolled away, and fired once before he had to jump back to avoid another fast swing from Kai's nunchucks. Vincent worked best over distance, but Kai was constantly too close to him, trying to knock his gun away. My husband's outline blurred as he charged forward, his nunchucks spinning by his sides and glowing a vivid orange. Vincent took aim and fired, and Kai had to abandon the attack to dodge to the right. I was sure the bullets had hit, and when Kai's outline became solid again, blood was dripping down his arm from his left shoulder; the bullets had grazed him.

"Cloud, please, you have to stop them!" I pleaded, still struggling against him fruitlessly.

Vincent fired four times in quick succession, and Kai had to deflect all twelve bullets away. This gave my lover time to rush forward and land a powerful punch in Kai's face with his claw. I winced as Kai hit the earth hard, and Vincent went to shoot him there and then. I felt a small amount of relief when my husband glowed blue again and suddenly appeared a good distance away from Vincent. Blood was gushing from his nose, and it was obviously broken. As Kai wiped away most of the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, Vincent's outline shifted into a red haze. I prayed he wasn't turning into one of his demons, but apparently he was only using this form to charge forward into Kai and knock him backwards, sending him flying into a large pile of rocks from the mountain. The red smoke appeared in front of my husband, and a golden fist came down towards him. I winced as he managed to roll away just in time, and the rock where his head had been a split second before cracked down the middle. Kai flipped back up and delivered a roundhouse kick to the red cloud, which disappeared on impact and reappeared behind him, turning back into Vincent.

It seemed Kai had decided enough was enough, as _knives _suddenly protruded from the ends of his nunchucks. I gasped, and even Cloud paused in shock as Kai materialised next to Vincent, and managed to stab him in the leg before he disappeared again. Vincent had no way to tell where he would suddenly appear, and Kai managed to stab him again in his shoulder.

"No! Kai, stop!" I screamed desperately. There was no telling who would win at this rate, but I knew the loser would undeniably end up dead. This was a very bad thing.

My lover closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them again his irises were a bright yellow. He reached a hand out to his left, where Kai materialised a second later, and a gloved hand encircled his throat. Vincent lifted my husband off the ground, and then slammed him back down again, proceeding to deliver a sharp kick to his abdomen, followed by a punch in the face. I gritted my teeth, feeling sorry for both of them since they were both in pain. Kai more than Vincent, but soon those stab wounds would get to him, and he'd grow weak from blood loss.

Vincent continued to beat my husband to a bloody pulp, and I guessed he wanted him to suffer as much as possible before he killed him. But suddenly my lover was knocked back forcefully by an unseen energy, hitting the dirt and sliding a few feet before he jumped back up same time Kai did. Both of them obviously decided to take a breather for a few seconds.

"You have to do something!" I turned to Cloud with wide eyes. He clearly agreed, as he reached behind him and drew his Ultima Weapon, letting me go as he did so.

"Move Yuffie." he said. I did as I was told, retreating behind him when his weapon began to give off a blue vapour.

Cloud suddenly swung his sword down, thrusting it into the ground, and what looked like three blue airwaves cut a path into the hard earth between Vincent and Kai. Both had to jump away from each other to avoid the attack, and myself and Cloud quickly placed ourselves between them.

"Please stop fighting! Please!" I begged, placing my hands on my husband's chest. He didn't look at me, he was too busy glaring over my shoulder at Vincent. I sent Cloud a look and he nodded and guided Vincent over to the Shera.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. Kai was in bad shape; really bad. He could barely stand by the looks of things.

"Yeah, I'll live." he answered, sounding like he was in a significant amount of pain. I ducked under his arm to help support his weight.

"Vincent's only trying to protect me." I muttered, and he looked down at me.

"Did you tell him I abused you?" he asked quietly. His voice sounded strange from not being able to breathe through his nose. I shook my head.

"No! I told him I fell down the stairs, but he didn't believe me." I said hurriedly.

He nodded, "So where are you running off to now?"

"To Edge, just for a while." I responded.

He sighed, and raised his hand to gingerly touch his bloody nose, "This is why I told you not to leave the house."

There was a tense pause, in which I bit my bottom lip nervously and Kai assessed the damage to his nose. "I can understand why you want to get away from Wutai." he said softly.

'_I just want to get away from _you._' _I thought.

"But why do you always have to leave me behind?"

Uh oh…was he implying-?

"Tell you what, you can go back to Edge, as long as I get to come with you." Kai told me.

_Fantastic. _Well, it wasn't like I had any choice. I nodded slowly in agreement, forcing a small smile.

This day was not going well.

-x-

Kai sighed as I cured him, and his wounds glowed a light green before he touched the plaster cast and winced, "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes." I replied firmly, wiping the last of the blood from his mouth. He smiled lopsidedly as the airship jolted, and I closed my eyes to ward off the nausea.

"Valentine's pretty tough, I'll give him that." he commented. I sighed and opened my eyes.

"Duh. You idiot." I said fondly, touching his cheek gently. He chuckled, then winced.

"Ow." he said, pressing a hand to his stomach. Now _he _was the one who was black and blue all over. Bruises covered most of his upper body, including his face, where I was pretty sure he'd develop two black eyes. He went to touch his nose, and I slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch it! It needs some time to heal." I scolded.

"…Yes nurse Yuffie."

I smiled, "Well, while I'm playing nurse, I need to go see if Vincent's okay."

Kai made a noise of protest, grabbing my hand. I looked at him incredulously.

"You _stabbed _him! I've finished caring for my husband, now I need to go care for my friend." I told him, pulling my hand out of his.

"…Fine. Don't be too long. _My _injuries are far worse than his." he said, leaning back onto the mound of pillows and gesturing to his bandaged upper arm and bruised face. I laughed.

"You're playing the sympathy card? Okay, I'll hurry, if you're in so much pain." I mocked playfully. He gave a fake groan as I shut the door.

The Shera lurched again, and so did my stomach. I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath. Cid's flying skills had obviously not improved any.

"For fuck sake! When I fuckin' said up the engine power, I didn't mean give it a fuckin' burst!"

Ah, there was the foul mouthed old man now. I smiled, "Cid, do you know where Vincent is?"

He looked over at me as I entered the cockpit, a cigarette dangling from his lips. But the tobacco stick dropped to the floor when his mouth dropped open.

"Shit, kid. What the hell happened to you? I thought it was just Vince and Kai that got into a fight." he said, sounding shocked.

I forced a giggle, "Oh, I wish _my_ injuries were that honourable. _I _fell down the stairs, being my clumsy old self."

His eyes widened, before he laughed, "Ah, that sounds just like you. You alright?"

"Yeah, 'course I am." I said lightly, nodding.

"Be more careful, kid." he said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

I smiled, "Will do. Now, back to the original subject, do you know where Vincent is?"

"Vince?" he abandoned the wheel for a second as he stooped to pick up his temporarily forgotten cigarette. The ship veered off to the left, and I grabbed onto the doorframe to stop myself falling over.

Cid straightened back up, popping the cancer stick back into his mouth and taking a drag, before taking the steering wheel again, "Ah…sleeping quarters closest to the storage rooms."

"Thanks old man. And would it kill you to steer smoothly?"

"Fuck off brat, ya think you can do better?" he retorted.

"Cait Sith could drive this thing better than you Cid, baring in mind he's usually controlled by _Reeve_." I stated, fully confident that was one hundred percent true.

"Shut up and get the fuck outta my cockpit!"

I laughed and went to find Vincent. I had to admit, the Shera was so much better than the Highwind. It was slightly easier to find your intended destination, for example. To a poor, unfortunate girl with motion sickness, the Highwind was a death trap disguised as a form of transport.

"Vinnie?" I asked, sliding open the door to the last bedroom before the storage ones.

"Yuffie, are you alright?" he sat up in his bed to look at me.

"Of course I am, stupid. I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"I'm fine." he replied, holding his arms out for me. I closed the door and crawled onto the bed, laying by his side.

"You promised you wouldn't-" I started.

"Kill him." he finished my sentence for me, "And I didn't."

I sighed, letting it go, "How are your injuries?"

"Completely healed; they weren't major."

"Poor Kai's in quite a bit of pain." I commented.

"Good." Vincent responded resolutely. I rolled my eyes.

"You shouldn't fight." I told him, beginning to trace patterns on his bare chest.

"Yuffie, he has been beating you. He deserves to die in the most painful way possible." he growled.

"No one _deserves _to die." I murmured.

"Hojo." he countered shortly.

"…Valid point." I agreed.

Vincent kissed the top of my head, "…Cloud knows I'm in love with you."

I froze. "Cloud? Why? How?"

"He asked me if I had feelings for you on our way to Wutai."

"Holy crap. What did you say?" I asked anxiously.

"…I told him that I loved you." he said simply.

I stared at him. "You did what now?"

He smiled at my expression, and spoke slightly slower, "I told him that I-"

"I heard!" I interrupted, sitting up, "_Why_ did you tell him that?"

"He was suspicious since your little stunt at the bar." he told me, and I blushed, "He believes you have feelings for me also."

I made a surprised sound, "Damn. Delivery boy figured it out."

Vincent chuckled once, "He does not know we are lovers."

"But he knows there is _something _there! This is bad!" I pouted.

"I am confident he will not tell Kai anything."

I sighed and lay back down, "But if _Cloud _can figure it out then-"

"Shh, love. There's no need to worry. Cloud was only able to pick up on it because of Tifa and Aerith."

"Huh? What do you…oh." I said, understanding. Cloud loved them both, and he once had a choice between the two. It was sorta similar to my situation. When I realised that, I knew Cloud wouldn't tell a soul. He understood perfectly.

"I see." I said slowly, my respect for the spiky-haired swordsman suddenly doubling.

Vincent "hn"ed and turned on his side so he was facing me, "Kai is probably expecting you to live with him while you are in Edge, but I cannot allow that."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"You cannot expect me to leave you alone with him for long periods of time. He'll hurt you."

I sighed, "He won't."

"Yuffie, have you looked in the mirror lately?" he asked rhetorically.

I glared at him, "I haven't actually."

He made a noise of annoyance, "Don't play dumb."

"I'm not, I understand all too well! If I wasn't such a bad wife then-"

"You think this is your fault?" he asked incredulously, cutting me off.

"Well…he obviously hits me for a _reason._" I said impartially.

Vincent stared at me. I began to feel self-conscious.

"What?" I asked timidly.

He blinked, and spoke slowly, "…He has manipulated you into believing you deserve to be treated badly."

I got off the bed, standing up, "Kai hasn't _manipulated _me!"

Vincent stood up too, "You can't even see it…"

"My father agrees with him, so he must be right!"

He slowly shook his head, "Yuffie, a husband should _never _raise a hand to his wife."

"Well, Wutainese women are different, it's just…how it is!" I struggled to find the words to describe it.

"Why do you keep defending him?" he asked, exasperated.

"I-I just…it's not his fault!"

We both fell silent for a few moments, our eyes narrowed at each other. Then Vincent's eyes suddenly widened a little.

"You…do you have feelings for him, too?"

I blinked in shock, "For Kai? I-"

"Why else would you justify his actions? Have you, been sleeping with him?" Vincent asked, sounding quietly infuriated. I could practically _feel _the jealousy rolling of him in waves.

"No! Of course not! You _know_ I don't love him, even though he's my husband. It's just…how tradition goes." I explained, frustrated, before I snorted, "That said, I am breaking all laws of tradition now by having an affair. And I love you instead of my husband, and I'm sleeping with you instead of my husband, and I'm…what?"

He was looking at me funny. "…You know, you've never told me you loved me."

I frowned, confused, "Don't be stupid, I've told you I love you loads of times." I said irritably as he walked towards me.

"Ah yes, but you have always said it _back._" he told me, stopping in front of me and placing his hands on my waist, before he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. I instantly relaxed, but I remembered why I shouldn't let him kiss me when he moved his mouth to my neck.

"You're not _allowed _to kiss me now, I'm trying to be mad at you!" I said, crossing my arms. I felt his lips curve into a smirk against my skin, before his mouth moved to my shoulder where he lightly dragged his teeth along the skin there. I gave an involuntary shiver.

"Um…okay, maybe I'll store this anger until later…" I tried to keep my voice and breathing even, and failed completely.

"Hn, you do that." Vincent responded, running his claw hand up my back and making me shiver again. He uncrossed my arms gently with one hand, before pulling me tighter against him. He kissed my shoulder once more, then his mouth moved up my neck to my jaw, before demanding the attention of my lips again.

The intercom sounded, making me jump as Cid's gruff voice filled the room, "Alright, we've landed in Edge people. Everybody get the hell off, 'cos we ain't leavin' for a while. I need a fuckin' drink!"

I couldn't help but laugh, and Vincent chuckled with me.

-x-

Vincent had taken my bags to his apartment for me, while I had gone with Kai to his flat. I was currently attempting to convince him to let me stay with Vincent…but it wasn't really working so far.

"Kai, I'm _going_ to live with Vincent." I finally stated firmly, "I don't need your permission." He sighed in frustration.

"I don't understand why you can't just live here with me." he responded, "We're only staying in Edge for a month anyway."

"I know. But," I sighed, plopping myself down on the sofa next to him, "truth is…I'm, kinda scared of you. I don't feel safe when I'm alone with you."

That brought him up short. He blinked in surprise.

"I…didn't know you felt that way." he said slowly. He leaned back on the couch. I fidgeted, nervously anticipating his reaction.

He was frowning when he brought his hand up, and I automatically tensed. He noticed this, and paused.

"I'm sorry." he apologised, continuing to reach for me to caress my cheek softly. I gave a small smile.

"I think it would be a good idea to…distance ourselves from each other. Just for a while." I told him. He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I guess." he replied, moving his hand away. I held in a sigh of relief.

"I'll still see you all the time, obviously." I said, trying to assure him it was a good idea, "I just won't be living with you. I think that would be good for us."

He raked a hand through his hair, "It couldn't hurt, I suppose."

I smiled a little wider, "Thank you."

He smiled back, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me to him, "I haven't been a very good husband, have I?"

I stayed silent, and he took this as confirmation, "Thought so…I'm sorry."

"…No, _I'm_ sorry. I know I'm not a very good wife."

"Yes you are." he contradicted, kissing my forehead, "And you'll be an even better Lady of Wutai in time."

I smiled wryly. "Yeah…maybe; in time." I agreed.

* * *

**Yay, chapter twently three is finished! Thank gawd...now I can get on with the next one, which seems to be much easier on my brain. I hoped you enjoyed reading this chapter anyway. Like I said, my brain isn't working right so I can't come up with a decent chapter title, so can anyone help me out please? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!**

**Any mistakes you may have noticed, please point out to me! **

**And thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	25. Dynamite

**Hi. :) Okay, this chapter is a little short, don't kill me! I had an idea for a new story, so I was busy noting everything down for that and writing up a few scenes. But I promise I'll finish this story before I start a new one. I. Must. Not. Get. Distracted…too much. :D Well, you're reading this chapter slightly earlier than I had planned thanks to Comrade Buttons. By _bribing_ me, but I needed to get my butt into gear. Um, technically, since the deadline was midnight tonight, this is _only_ forty-three minutes late...in my timezone anyway.**

**Anonymous review replies: Someone; Lol! XD Your review made me laugh! True, so true. I'm actually tempted to put that in the story now...thanks for reviewing!**

**.; Having an army of mini Vincents would be so cool! With tiny capes and guns and everything! XD Then they could turn into tiny demons and kill Kai! Omg, that would be an awesome way to go...death by mini Vincents. :D Thank you for reviewing!**

**RjLikkesCupcakes; Aaahhh! *Runs away screaming* Stop threatening me! XD I've updated now, okay? Stay calm, dear. You now _so_ owe me a cookie! :P Thanks for reviewing!**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or any of it's characters. Though I do own Kai and his evilness...not sure if that's a good thing.**

* * *

I had miraculously managed to convince Kai that we should stay in Edge for a longer period of time than was originally planned. It took me two long weeks to do it, but eventually he consented. Within those two weeks, most of my uncomfortably sore bruises had completely faded. I had insisted that I shouldn't see anyone in that space of time; if Tifa saw the state of me back then, she'd freak out and end up punching someone. So, while Cloud and Cid believed I had 'fallen down the stairs', only Kai and Vincent knew the truth. Actually, Cloud had probably told Tifa about the bruises too, but thankfully she'll never know the true extent of the damage. I went to visit her when my bruises had gone, and she seemed normal enough, so I don't think she suspects anything. Cloud, on the other hand, is a little too intuitive for his own damn good.

"…How long are you planning to stay?" Vincent asked quietly, tracing a finger down my spine.

I smiled, propping myself onto my elbows to look at him, "As long as possible. I dunno how long that'll be, but Kai's being awfully lenient, considering we've already been here for almost two months…I'm slightly suspicious of his intentions…"

Vincent readjusted the duvet so it covered most of my bare back, before he leaned up and kissed me briefly. I sighed happily and rested my head on his chest again, thinking about going back to sleep. We lay in silence for a few moments as he continued to stroke my back soothingly.

"Can we lay in bed all day today?" I asked softly.

"If you'd like." he replied quietly, sounding pleased, "Practically half of the day has already passed anyway."

"Why, what time is it?"

"One forty-five, in the afternoon."

I opened my eyes to look at the clock, "Woah, almost two pm? Already?"

He chuckled lightly, "Yes dearest, it would seem so."

I snorted, "_Dearest?_ Since when?"

He paused for a second, "…You became the most precious thing to me a while ago."

I opened my eyes and lifted my head from his chest, "Thanks. You're pretty important to me too, vampire."

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I tried to keep a straight face to as I apologised, but I couldn't quite manage it.

"Ahem, I'm sorry for calling you a vampire." My face split into a wide, lazy grin.

"Apology accepted."

"I know you're not a vampire really," I continued, "the fact that we found you in a coffin means nothing. Or that your skin practically _glows_ in it's paleness…no biggie. _Clearly, _myself and the rest of Avalanches' concern that you'll suck our blood in the middle of the night is completely unfounded. And _of course, _it's perfectly normal to live off three hours of sleep a-"

The feel of his lips on mine shut me up. Ah, he does this often, since this method is the most effective. Sometimes I babble on purpose, just so he'll kiss me. I could always just _ask _for a kiss, but where's the fun in that?

Vincent rolled us gently, until he was on top, before breaking the kiss, "Your accusations, though mostly true, are not conclusive evidence that I am a vampire."

I laughed, "What more proof do you need? Maybe you're a vampire and you just don't know it yet!"

He made an amused noise in his throat, "I'll tell you if I suddenly have an urge to drink your blood."

I laughed, but stopped almost immediately when a slightly evil, thoughtful look crossed his face.

"Though I should warn you, I suddenly have an overwhelming desire to bite your neck…"

I squealed and tried to push him off me, but my flimsy upper body strength was no match for his weight. I couldn't help but giggle like a crazy person when I felt his teeth lightly nipping the skin of my neck.

"Ouch!" I gasped. He quickly pulled back to look at me.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"No, no! Not you." I said, and he rolled off me, "I've just got stomach cramp again." I sat up and brought my knees to my chest.

He frowned disapprovingly, "I thought I told you, you should see a doctor."

I rolled my eyes, "Relax Vince. I don't need to see a doctor and waste their time. It's probably just period pains."

"Or it could be something more serious, like appendicitis, for example."

"Is that what you think it is?" I asked, eyes wide.

"Perhaps. You should see a doctor to find out." he told me sternly.

I shook my head, "I don't need to."

"Why are you so stubborn?" he sighed.

I didn't answer, choosing instead to stick my tongue out at him.

"Hn. If the pain gets any worse, you may have to go to the hospital." Vincent told me, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek, "So tell me straight away, alright?"

"Okay." I agreed, "Um, can you get me some painkillers please?"

He nodded, before getting out of bed and pulling some pants on. I uncurled from my ball and fell back on to the bed heavily, clutching my stomach. He came back a minute later.

"None left." he said. I groaned and rolled over, pressing my face into the pillow.

"Oh, the horror." I mumbled. I felt his hand rest on my back.

"I'll go out and get you some; is there anything else you want?" he asked.

"…Pomegranates." I announced. He chuckled.

"You're a strange one." he said, and I felt him place a kiss on my head.

"Hurry please." I requested, grabbing his pillow and covering my head with it.

"Will do." he answered, before I heard the sounds of him getting dressed. Then fading footsteps, and the distinct sound of the front door opening and closing. Silence for a few minutes, before I decided it was best to get up. Stupid pain, spoiling my plans to stay in bed all day.

I threw the covers off me in a huff, before I stood up and grabbed Vincent's dressing gown from the wardrobe. It buried me, but it was very soft, and very comfortable, and very _black_, naturally.

I padded into the living room and switched on the T.V. Not because I actually wanted to watch it, but because it filled the silence. It became apparent that the last thing Vincent had been watching was one of those channels that _constantly replayed _'important' bits of news. I shook my head at the T.V screen, before wandering off into the kitchen, to get me some ice cream. Sure, I hadn't had breakfast yet, but whatever; I wanted some. My stomach ache had gone away, for now at least.

I reached for the chocolate flavour, but then changed my mind and grabbed another tub. Vanilla, go ahead and call me boring. Vincent liked vanilla, and he'd spread his boringness to me, being the poor, hapless ninja I was. Well, that just wouldn't do. I opened the tub and placed it on the kitchen worktop, before reaching into the cupboard to get some chocolate sauce. I squirted the sauce onto the ice cream in a smiley face shape, adding glasses and a handlebar moustache, before giggling at my creation. I almost didn't want to eat it.

"I shall dub you…Christopher." I told the ice cream, grinning, "It's a pleasure to meet you. And now you must fulfil your purpose."

I grabbed a spoon and dug in, "Mm. You're yummy, Chris." I was _talking _to my ice cream; that was perfectly normal…

I continued to eat thoughtfully, wondering if scientists could make ice cream…_mutate_ into an _almost _living organism that lived in a block and could multiply at will, like bacteria. Then you'd never run out of cold, creamy goodness! Then again, I don't think people would like to eat mutated ice cream…

"-unknown who is responsible, or what their motives are-"

I rolled my eyes, trying to tune out the annoying woman that told you the basics of the story before they'd hand it over to someone 'at the scene'. Really, she just repeated the same things, _over and over again._

"Here's Graham, live at the scene-"

There, I knew it. News was _boring. _I continued to eat my vanilla ice cream slowly.

"-have been a total of twenty-six casualties and nine deaths so far. Eye witnesses report seeing-"

I started humming as I picked up my small tub of ice cream, scooping more into my mouth as I entered the living room, and moved past the T.V to open a window.

"Police have closed of the street and are currently working to find out the cause of the explosion…"

I turned to stare at the television screen. Explosion? What explosion? I love it when things blow up! Uh…but not when people get hurt…

"-has been an explosion at the Edge's local pharmacy, and witnesses claimed to have seen a small shootout beforehand-"

I froze with my spoon still in my mouth. Pharmacy? Shootout?

"-twenty six people surrounding the area were injured, and nine of the eleven people in the building were fatally wounded."

I stared at the man currently talking, with a charred, wrecked building in the background, and didn't dare move. Until my teeth started protesting painfully to the cold blob of sugar in my mouth, and I dropped the spoon into the tub, swallowing my spoonful of ice cream as I did so. My brain obviously didn't want to think of the possibility that…

"Again, it's unclear who or what caused it, but there were reports of hooded figures inside the pharmacy and-"

Oh. Leviathan. _No._

"-report seeing none other than Vincent Valentine fighting the hooded figures and trying to get people out of the building, before an explosion took place-"

It was as I'd feared. My breath left me, and my cold, numb fingers unintentionally let the tub of ice cream fall to the ground, effectively splattering the stuff all over Vincent's carpet.

_Vincent _was _there. _I'd sent him to the pharmacy buy me painkillers. And so were the _remnants_, by the sounds of it. This was no coincidence. I'd bet my secret materia stash that those Jenova rejects caused that explosion. Nine people were dead…

I continued to stare blankly at the screen, though the mans voice now sounded muffled. Vinnie was okay, of course he was. He was practically_ indestructible. _I blinked, and the T.V came back into focus again. I took a good, long look at the rubble in the background that used to be a pharmacy, and rushed into the bedroom to grab some clothes.

-x-

Shouldn't I get a damn _phone call _from _someone? _I didn't know where the hell Vincent was! I suppose the police only call family or something…helpful that, when Vincent doesn't have any.

"Excuse me, can you check to see if a Vincent Valentine has been admitted?" I asked the lady behind the desk in my speed talk. Midgar had only one hospital, so if he wasn't here…

"Alright…and you are?"

"Yuffie Kisaragi." I told her, "I'm his friend."

She nodded and started typing something. "He's one of the victims of the bomb at the pharmacy, wasn't he?"

"I'm really hoping not…wait, a _bomb?_" I said, staring at her with wide eyes.

"That's what I heard. He apparently warned everyone to get out of the building just before it went off." she informed me, looking at the computer screen, "Ah, yes, he's in room thirty two B, in the St. Annabelle ward, but there's no details of his condition…hey, wait, he's not allowed visitors!"

I ignored her, stepping into the elevator without thinking about my motion sickness. Gawd, can't these stupid thing's go faster? When I want them to be slow, they're fast; but when I want them to be fast, it's the opposite!

I stumbled out, almost tripping over my own feet and muttering apologies to the other people waiting to get in the lift. I walked quickly down the halls, looking for the right room…was I even in the right ward?

Oh, there's a sign, um…yes I was. Now, just need to find room thirty two B…

There! I rushed towards it, but was intercepted by a male doctor that had a voice made _just_ to _annoy _me _instantly_…

"Miss, excuse me, no visitors are allowed in this ward."

"I don't care! My friend was hurt in the pharmacy explosion thing, and I need to know if he's okay!"

"If you give your name and your friends name at the welcome counter, and sit in the waiting room, staff will inform you of his condition and if he's allowed to see anyone."

"Oh my god, but that'll take forever and a frickin' day! I _need _to see him _now!_" I demanded, stamping my foot for emphasis.

"I'm sorry miss, but you can't see the patient until doctors either discharge him, or move him to another ward."

I moved to barge past him, but he stepped in front of me, holding his hands up. "You can't go in there."

"Watch me!" I stepped purposefully forward again, and he grabbed my shoulders to stop me. "ASSAULT!" I screamed. The doctor dropped his hands immediately. "If you don't let me in to see my friend I will _sue your ass! _The charges will be assault, inappropriate conduct-"

"Madam, please-"

"And even if there isn't a law somewhere that says you have to do your job right, I can at least get you fired!"

I side stepped around him before he could respond, flinging open the doors and fearing the worst.

"Oh, Vincent!" I exclaimed, running over to him.

He looked round, before sitting up in the hospital bed, "Yuffie. So it was you I heard yelling." he said, opening his arms for me. I went to glomp him, but stopped myself. He looked at me questioningly.

"I might hurt you." I said in explanation. He looked a little…battered. There were small, fine cuts on his face, his hair was slightly matted, and his clothes had small gashes in them too, and looked a little singed. He smiled.

"I won't let the doctors heal me, the cuts and bruises will heal up themselves within a few hours." he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to him. I leaned down to wrap my arms around his neck and bury my head in his shoulder.

"Oh god, Vincent, I was so scared for a second there." I told him, tears of relief forming in my eyes. I blinked rapidly and forced them back.

"Hn. You needn't have worried, love; the remnants weren't exactly stealthy."

"I knew it was those remnants! How many?" I asked angrily.

"It seems they work in groups of five."

I pulled back to look at him. "Gawd, how many more can there _be? _There shouldn't be this many."

He nodded, agreeing, "We'll have to talk to Reeve about this, and Cloud. Perhaps this is getting too big for just us to handle."

I hugged him again, "I'm just glad you're okay. You made me drop my ice cream, fool! Speaking of which, hehe, I'll clean it up when I get back. Um, any idea when you're getting out?"

"I should be discharged in a few hours." he told me, beginning to stroke my hair.

"Okay, I'll stay here 'till then." I was about to made myself comfortable and lay on the tiny hospital bed next to him, when a familiar, but panicked voice could be heard from the hall;

"I swear the gods, if you don't let us in to see him, I _will_ get you _fired_!" Tifa threatened. I giggled, and pecked Vincent on the lips before moving away from him to sit on the edge of the bed.

Tifa burst in, followed closely by Cloud, Reeve, Denzel, and Marlene.

"Thank the Lifestream you're alright! We came as soon as we heard." she said, walking towards us.

"Do you know what caused the explosion?" Cloud asked when he reached us.

"Remnants of Jenova." Vincent answered before I could, "It's been myself and Yuffie's mission from the WRO to discover their intentions."

"Was it a bomb Uncle Vincent?" asked Denzel curiously. He nodded in response.

"Why would they blow up a pharmacy?" I wondered out loud.

"I believe," Reeve began hesitantly, looking at Vincent, "that it was an attempt on Vincent's life."

My eyes widened in shock, but he was probably right. "…Well, that's depressing." I muttered, "Whatever did you do to piss them off Vince?"

He shrugged a shoulder, while Tifa told me off for my bad language in front of the children.

"At least we have a vague idea where they are now." said Reeve. I nodded in agreement, before I remembered something.

"Oh! Vinnie…did you manage to get me those pomegranates, or did they get blown up?"

* * *

**Those poor pomegranates. A moment of silence for my favourite fruit...**

**Anyway! Did you like that chapter? No Kai in this one, but he'll be scheming something pretty soon.**

**Now, be a dear and point out any mistakes I may have made please! I have a feeling there's lots of them my eyes are weirdly oblivious to.**

**Thank you for reading! And reviewing! You kind people make me very happy! X)**

**xoxo**


	26. Shattered Glass

**Erm, hi.**

**...Please don't kill me! *Cowers* I know it's been too long, but better late than never right? Besides, I think the end of this chapter makes up for it, in my opinion. Seriously, read on before you decide to hunt me down. Please. :)**

**Anonymous review replies: **

**Someone; "Thundercats are go." LOL! XD Oh, finally someone who loves Juno too! Most of my friends think I'm weird 'cos it's one of my fav movies. They just don't understand the awesomeness of it. Thanks so much for reviewing! Even though it was ages ago now...totally my fault, sorry!**

**ladytolazytologin, aka, -ladynatashaeagleye-; Is that correct? I think you've reviewed before, but I wasn't sure...anyways, thank you for reviewing! It's very much appreciated!**

**Ff7fanatic; Oh wow. Thank you for reviewing, six times I think? Yay! Right, I'm going to attempt to reply to each one now...I think Kai getting eaten is actually a pretty good idea, it has been noted. :D I _wondered _what happened to Hojo's pixelated mind! I mean, how are they supposed to kill him completely? He'll never frickin' die, just like Sephiroth. Meh. Don't feel bad, everyone's jealous of Vinnie. XD I'm sorry Kai ruins your happy, I'm afraid he's going to ruin it in this chapter too. :( Omg you could actually _make_ the locket? Seriously? I've been to all the jewellers I know, and none of them can do it, and _that _ruins _my _happy. You read the whole of this story in just four hours? What kinda super enhanced being are you? :D *Gasp* You can't take over Square Enix before me! What do you say to becoming partners, huh? XD When I read this reply back it seems extremely random. Teehee. Oui yna famlusa yht dryhg oui ajan cu silr vun najeafehk! :)**

**Zen + Zenly; Are you the same person? I apologise if not, but I'll just reply to both anyway. I'm glad you think I've got Yuffie's character down, she's my fav Final Fantasy character. :) I'm so happy you're enjoying the story! Thank you very much for reviewing! Zen, thank you for reviewing my other stories too!**

**RjLikesCupcakes; I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Here's the next chapter now see? :D I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reviewing!**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII. I say that now, but one day, I'll have the right to remove all these disclaimers. You'll see. XD**

* * *

"Will you please take it easy?" I asked, holding onto Vincent's arm.

"I'm perfectly fine Yuffie. Stop worrying." he answered, proving it by swinging me up into his arms right there in the middle of the street. I gave a small squeak of surprise.

"Put me down, you idiot!" I cried, and he gave a small smirk before setting me down gently, "We're almost at the Seventh Heaven, and I want you to sit down and be good, 'kay?"

"Yes Yuffie."

"Good." I said approvingly. I entered the bar with Vincent following close behind me.

"Vincent!" Tifa exclaimed, smiling, "You've been discharged already?"

He nodded. I spoke for him; "_Obviously_ he has Tifa, or he wouldn't be here, would he?"

"Ha ha." Tifa responded sarcastically, "I was just expressing my surprise that he's healed so quickly, that's all. Even when chaos is gone, he's _still_ superhuman…"

I sat down on a bar stool in front of her, and Vinnie sat next to me. I ordered some orange juice, while Vincent asked for nothing, as usual. I complained when Tifa said she wouldn't put a little cocktail umbrella in my drink. She watched me swirl the juice with my straw, with her elbows on the table, her chin resting on her palm, and her brow slightly furrowed. This was her thinking face. I snorted softly.

"Don't think so much Teef, you'll get frown lines." I commented. She rolled her eyes. I noticed Vincent had a very small smile of amusement on his face.

"Yeah well, you're gonna get…smile lines." she retorted.

"'Smile lines' are the key to ageing gracefully," I told her wisely, "while frown lines just mean you're old and grumpy."

She scowled at me.

"See?" I said, pointing to her face. She slapped my hand away lightly. "…Gil for your thoughts?" I asked, before taking a gulp of my drink.

"…I think we should have a party!"

I almost choked in surprise. Vincent patted me on the back as I managed to swallow the juice.

"W-what? Why?"

"Well…I was thinking, it's been ages since we've had an Avalanche reunion." she explained, her tone getting steadily more enthusiastic as she spoke, "Plus Cloud's going to be here all week, and Barret's coming to visit Marlene later today. You don't have to travel from Wutai, and Vincent's not somewhere on the other side of the planet. Reeve's coming over with Shelke, like they do every Sunday. Basically we're all here already, it's just Cid and Nanaki we really need to invite!"

I blinked. "I…guess. You do have a point."

"It'll be more like a little get together than a party anyway, and I'll make dinner for everyone!"

"How can we refuse?" Vincent said in a monotone.

"Yeah, it sounds like a good idea!" I agreed.

"Great!" Tifa said, clasping her hands, "Then I'll go call Cid right now!"

She scurried off, leaving the bar unattended for a moment. I sighed, before standing up to follow her. Vincent looked at me questioningly. "Nature calls." I told him casually.

I caught Tifa just as she was dialling Cid's number, "Teef, do you have a couple of painkillers to spare?"

She nodded and pointed to the top cupboard. "Thanks." I mouthed, as she spoke to the pilot on the other end of the line.

I got myself a glass of water and took two of the little capsules. I couldn't let Vincent know my tummy aches were bothering me, he'd drag me to a completely unnecessary doctor, where he'd probably take blood tests for no reason. Shudder. I hated needles. Then I actually went to the bathroom, just so he wasn't suspicious if I was too quick.

When I took my seat next to Vincent, Tifa was already back to her post and serving more drinks, and Vince looked…rather annoyed. I was about to ask him what was wrong when Tifa spoke up, "Guess who else I invited Yuffie!"

"Um…" I thought for a moment. There was me, Tifa, Vincent, Cloud, Barret, Cid, Reeve, Shelke, Red…I couldn't think of anyone else, "Cait Sith?" I guessed uncertainly.

She shook her head, "I invited Kai!"

I experienced that swooping sensation of disappointment in my stomach, and wished I hadn't taken those painkillers after all. Now I knew why Vincent was…_displeased_, putting it mildly.

"Oh. Why?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Well, he's part of the group now, ya know? Our circle of friends. And only you _really _know him, so this is a good opportunity for the rest of us!"

'_I _don't even know him, he's so frickin' temperamental!' I wanted to yell, but I bit my tongue. Instead I smiled forcefully.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Tifa gushed, "I better close early to prepare!"

I nodded, still smiling as she announced to the customers that the bar was closing early. Vincent looked at me warily out of the corner of his eye, and I lowered my gaze to the floor.

-x-

I knocked on Kai's front door and waited patiently. He still hadn't gotten round to giving me a key, and the door was locked when I tried it. After a few long moments, I heard the lock click and the door was swung open.

"Hello stranger." Kai greeted, leaning in and pecking me on the lips, "Haven't seen you around lately."

"I've just been busy with WRO work, what with Vincent nearly getting blown up and all…" I told him, stepping inside and closing the door behind me.

"I heard from the news. Is he alright?" he asked, looking like he didn't really care, but thought it polite to ask anyway. I nodded.

"Yeah, just a few cuts and bruises that healed within a few hours." I looked him up and down, "Looking good, by the way."

He chuckled. He was wearing a simple button down shirt and faded jeans, though they were by some famous Wutainese designer, "You look pretty nice yourself."

"Thanks, I don't think my style has changed." I said, looking down at my blue fitted top and white shorts, "Ready to go?"

"Yep." he replied, grabbing his keys from the coffee table.

"Why was your door locked?" I asked curiously. He shrugged.

"Can't be too careful around here. This isn't the safest street, but it was the only place I could find on such short notice."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. "Please. You could ninja any criminals ass straight into jail."

He grinned, "Well, I don't mean to brag but…probably. I'm just that good."

I rolled my eyes, smiling, "Okay, lets just go before your head explodes from the over-inflation."

He laughed and followed me out the door, locking it behind us. Kai took my hand in his as we walked down the street to the Seventh Heaven. We seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement never to mention the small period where I was under 'house arrest'. That was fine with me, I didn't want to talk about it anyway. He'd said sorry more than once, and I'd accepted his apology. So that was that.

"Hey Yuffie!" Tifa greeted happily, "Good evening Kai."

I smiled and waved, and Kai responded with a, "Hello Tifa."

My smile faded as quickly as it had come when I realised Kai was speaking _for _me. It was one of the rules for Wutaian wives; in the presence of other people, don't speak unless your husband gives you permission. _Oh gawd, _I was following these rules automatically lately.

"Dinner's going to be served in about fifteen minutes." Tifa informed us, "Everyone's in the dining room, if you want to go join them."

"Thanks. The food smells delicious by the way." said Kai, pulling me by the hand towards the dining room. Tifa smiled at him as we passed.

Everyone was already seated at the table when we came in, so obviously, only three seats were vacant. One for Tifa next to Cloud and Barret, and two for me and Kai, in between Reeve and Nanaki. Many different conversations were going on, and I only caught snippets as myself and Kai sat down;

"Daddy, me, Cloud, Tifa and Denzel went to see a movie in 3D!"

"-find out who's giving the orders then-"

"-must be fucking PMSing woman-

"-a robot, how would you know?"

Almost everyone gave myself and Kai a word of acknowledgement before going back to their own conversations. I noticed Vincent was talking to Shelke quietly, until I sat down, and he looked up at me. I smiled at him.

"Yuffie," Kai said quietly, "I think you should listen to Cloud and Reeve."

I turned my head slightly in his direction while I listened;

"-maybe going to need Avalanche's help with this." Reeve was saying, "Yuffie was right when she said there shouldn't be this many remnants. We need to find out where they're all coming from."

"So search Deepground, maybe that'll help shed some light on the situation." Cloud responded.

Reeve shook his head, "I'm pretty sure we know everything we can from them."

I glanced at Vincent again. He was staring at me, frowning slightly, probably because I hadn't said anything yet.

"-we should try talking to Rufus Shinra." Reeve finished.

"I don't think that will do much good." Cloud said, "He doesn't know much about remnants of Jenova."

"Do you have any better ideas? I can't think of anything else that could tell us what we're dealing with."

"Maybe you should stick to what you know," Kai interjected, "search those labs again for anything you might have missed?"

Reeve and Cloud looked at him, before looking at me.

"Sorry, Yuffie's being telling me how much trouble you've been having with this. Right babe?" he said, subtly telling me I could join in the conversation. Bastard.

"Oh yeah." I said, tearing my gaze away from Vincent, "I've sorta been venting my frustration on my poor husband. I think these remnants are secretly ninja's in disguise."

Kai chuckled; I smiled, like we were a perfectly normal couple. Perfectly happy. What a charade we were putting on.

"Well, I guess we don't have anything else to go on. I'll have to send someone so go search them over. Hmm…Shelke?" Reeve called. She turned to him and smiled slightly, in her all-grown-up-drop-dead-gorgeous-glory.

"Do you think you could help me with decoding these files? I've been working at it for months, but I need an expert." Reeve asked politely.

She nodded, "Alright. If you send them to me, I'll see if I can help."

Reeve smiled at her gratefully as Tifa walked in, carrying a huge stuffed chicken with roast potatoes on a tray.

"Dinner's ready!" she announced, "Help yourselves. I'll just go get the drinks and side dishes."

It was then I realised I was absolutely starving, and dug in hungrily. Nothing could beat Tifa's cooking. Not even fast food.

"Jesus kid, slow down." Cid said, raising his eyebrows at me, "It's not like there isn't enough food to go around."

I swallowed my mashed potato slowly, "Sorry old man, I didn't know I had to eat at a certain speed."

"This is amazing Tifa." Kai told her, before Cid could retort, "Yuffie told me you were an accomplished cook, but this exceeded by already high expectations."

She smiled modestly, "Oh, stop. It was nothing, really."

As Kai continued to speak to Tifa, my eyes strayed back to Vincent's. He'd been sneaking glances at me all night when Kai's attention was diverted. And when it wasn't, they'd often glare at each other from across the table, much to by discomfort.

"-Yuffie still had some of the leftover food in her backpack," hearing Tifa say my name brought me back to the conversation, "so obviously she attracted every monster within a ten mile radius-"

"Teef!" I exclaimed, "Don't be telling Kai about all the times I messed up when we were travelling!"

She and Kai laughed. "Please go on Tifa," my husband requested, "this sounds interesting."

"No!" I said loudly, "Don't tell him anything! Or I'll spill some gossip I know about you Teef!" I gave her a meaningful look, glancing at Cloud also, "And you Kai, I got dirt on you too!"

He raised an eyebrow, and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Hold that tongue…unless you're going to put it to better use."

There was a sound of shattering glass, and all heads snapped towards it's origin.

"I apologise." Vincent said quietly, setting the remains of his wine glass on the table as he stood up.

Tifa stood too, but I jumped up first, "I'll help clean it up." I announced, scurrying to Vincent's side carrying a large napkin. I scooped up the bigger shards of glass while Vincent picked up the smaller ones and placed them in the palm of his hand. We both headed to the kitchen when we'd finished.

"What was that about?" I asked quietly, dumping the napkin full of glass in the bin. Vincent followed my example.

"I assure you, it wasn't intentional." he answered, coldly.

"Vinnie…" I knew his enhanced hearing probably picked up what Kai had said.

"I don't think I can keep my promise." he told me.

"What?"

"I promised I wouldn't kill Kai; I think I'll have to break that promise." he said, flexing his fingers like he was dying to punch something.

"Vincent." I warned sharply.

"Yuffie, do you realise you didn't say anything once you arrived, until he said you could?"

"I noticed, actually." I answered lightly. He glared at the floor. "Hey," I said softly, making my way towards him, I placed one hand on his chest as I touched my locket, "I'm yours. In mind, body and heart, remember?"

His gaze softened as he looked down at me, and he nodded. Glancing at the kitchen door, he leaned towards me and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips.

"Cloud has been keeping a close eye on me all evening." he told me. I frowned.

"Really? Wow, he's sneaky, I didn't even notice."

Vincent smiled a little. "You weren't supposed to notice, dearest. That was the point."

I was about to comeback with a clever retort when I heard footsteps, and Vincent moved away from me to pour himself another glass of wine. Tifa entered carrying all the empty plates.

"Oh, sorry Teef. I'll help if you want." I said.

"Alright, thanks." she smiled. I smiled back as she left to collect more dirty dishes. I exited too to help her, and Vincent followed a little too close behind me.

-x-

At some point in the evening -when Tifa had put Marlene and Denzel to bed- everyone relocated to the bar, where drinking games ensued. Surprisingly, I didn't join in, as my stomach had chosen to attack me internally again.

So instead I sat with Vincent, watching Cid, Barret, Kai, Cloud and Tifa drink shots. Shelke and Reeve were discussing the remnants files, and Cait Sith was telling Shera and Red cheesy jokes.

"You have stomach cramp again." Vincent stated quietly.

I winced, "Maybe."

He sighed, "You should go see a doctor."

"I don't want to. I'm fine." I told him firmly, turning away from him to watch the drinking game.

Ugh…what's that gawd awful smell? It's making me feel kinda ill. Oh, it's Cid. Well no, not Cid personally. His cigarette smoke to be more exact. I cleared my throat uncomfortably.

"Cid, have you switched your brand of cigarette or something?" I asked loudly.

He looked over at me with a shot in one hand and a cancer stick in the other, "No, why ya askin'?"

"It just smells…really strong." I said, grimacing.

"Are you alright Yuffie?" Shera asked, concerned. I covered my mouth with my hand and swallowed convulsively.

"No." I decided, getting up and running towards the nearest bathroom.

"Yuffie?" Kai called after me. I ignored him as I slammed the bathroom door and leaned over the toilet, retching. Curse Cid and his extra strong tobacco to hell!

There was a knock on the bathroom door, "Yuffie?" Tifa said, "Are you okay?"

I took a few deep breaths before answering, "Yeah, I'm good."

I rinsed out my mouth with mouthwash before opening the door to find Tifa and Vincent stood outside.

"I don't care what you say, you're going to see a doctor. I will drag you there if I have to." Vincent told me, crossing his arms.

"Oh, fine. I'll go see a stupid doctor. But they're _not_ sticking needles in me!" I responded grudgingly. Tifa shook her head before placing a hand to my forehead.

"Yuffie, you're burning up!" she said worriedly. I frowned and felt my own forehead.

"I don't feel hot to me." I said, shrugging.

"Vincent's right, you need to go see a doctor." said Kai, suddenly appearing next to Tifa, "I'll take you tomorrow."

"I'll take her." Vincent announced, "I'm sure you'll be too busy. I hear Wutai's having economic problems lately."

My eyes widened as my husband glared fiercely at my lover, "Woah, what? What economic problems?"

"Relax, babe." Kai said, snaking an arm around my waist and leading me back to the bar, "It's nothing to worry about."

Kai sat with me for the rest of the night, shooting dirty looks at Vincent every so often. Eventually, when most had drunk enough to blur their vision, people started shuffling off to bed, since Tifa had prepared the spare rooms for everyone.

"Do you want to go home Yuffie?" Vincent asked when only himself, me and Kai were left.

"Don't you mean _your _apartment?" I replied, grinning. He blinked in surprise before smiling slightly.

"Of course. Slip of the tongue." he said. I giggled, before turning to Kai, who had been watching us with a scowl on his face.

"I'll probably see you tomorrow." I told him, kissing him on the cheek lightly.

He smiled, "Yuffie, how about you wait outside for Vincent hm? I just need to speak to him for a minute."

"Uh…" I glanced between the two men uneasily, "okay."

When I exited the bar and closed the door behind me, I immediately pressed my ear against it.

"Look, Valentine," Kai began, his tone flat, "I dunno what your problem is-"

Vincent cut him off, "My problem, is the way you treat Yuffie. She is not a possession, nor is she a punch bag."

There was a tense pause.

"It's none of your business." my husband told him.

"I think it is." Vincent retorted, "she's my-"

"Yeah, just what is she to you, anyway?" Kai interjected, "Your _friend?_" His voice practically dripped sarcasm, and my heart raced. Did he know?

"Yes, she's my friend." my lover said quietly. He wasn't exactly lying.

Kai snorted quietly, "Cut the bullshit Valentine. It's painfully obvious you have feelings for my wife."

"Is it?" Vincent asked.

"I've seen the way you look at her. You've been staring all night. I'm just warning you, not to act on those feelings."

The tight knot in my chest loosened, though only slightly.

"And what would happen if I did?"

"You'd get yourself, and Yuffie, in a lot of trouble with Wutai and it's laws. And I'd have to kill you of course." Kai's tone was deadly serious.

"Hn. Noted." Vincent said patronisingly.

"I don't think you understand how serious this is. Yuffie could be stripped of her title, banished from her own country, disgraced as a daughter of Leviathan. And you," my husband paused for a second, "you don't even want to know what will happen to you."

There was another pause, and I bit my lip nervously.

"Yuffie is mine. And there's simply nothing you can do about it." Kai said, "We're going back to Wutai soon, and you're going to stay away from her. Do I make myself clear?"

"…No." Vincent replied, "I won't stay away if she doesn't want me to."

"You will, or else." Kai informed him coldly, "It won't be too hard to get rid of you."

"I didn't realise you felt so threatened by me." Vincent said, and it sounded like he was smirking, "It increases my desire to steal her away from you."

There was a muffled crash, and I jumped.

"Yuffie knows the consequences." My husband hissed, sounding furious, "Even if she does have a soft spot for a monster like you, she won't give in. She loves Wutai too much."

"Perhaps she has found something she loves more. It would be interesting to see if that's true."

"Don't. You. Dare. Consider this your warning. If you so much as touch her unnecessarily again, I'll kill you."

* * *

**Ooh! 0_0 Evil, possessive husband strikes again. I wasn't sure when to end this chapter, but those last three words have an undeniably dramatic effect, I think.**

**I suffered from...well, not so much a writers block, but more of a...wall. Yeah, a wall. As if I'd hit a limit. It was weird, and very frustrating. Ugh, my brain hurts now. Honestly, some words of encouragement/motivation would be greatly appreciated. :)**

**Thank you for reading! And reviewing! It makes me do a small happy dance. XD**


	27. Ghost

**Okay. Basically, my laptop died. I always thought it wouldn't happen to me, but it seems to happen to everyone at some point. Yes, there is a problem with the hard drive. So, all my documents went *poof* and vanished. Possibly forever. *Lip quivers***

**So...I got a few PM's asking when this was gonna be updated. They were really nice and polite and everything, when really they should be paragraphs of abuse for me being lazy. I apologise. Hence this update. Thanks for the motivation. I heart you, and my wonderful reviewers! :) I wanted to update as quick as I could, so instead of waiting for my laptop, I borrowed my mothers ancient one to write this up. This chapter's really short, since I desperately wanted to get it out today, and I don't have my story plan. But what the heck. Anyway, enough of my rambling, I promise to reply to all anonymous reviewers next chapter.**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

Doctors. Qualified, professional people right? Wrong. So, so wrong. Well, I'm sure not all doctors are evil…and sadistic…and unsympathetic. But this guy was. Like Hojo reincarnated or something. So yeah, just generally an evil person.

Vincent however, seemed to be perfectly confident Hojo was well and truly dead, so he was actually on the doctors side. _Him_ over _me!_

"No no no! Please Vinnie, don't make me! _Please!_" I begged, clinging to him.

"It's just a blood test Yuffie-"

"_He's got a frickin' WEAPON Vince!" _I screeched, pointing accusingly at the _huge _needle that evil doctor had in his right hand.

Mrs Iitaka, I can assure-"

"Don't call me that!" I almost yelled, while Vincent frowned, "It's _Miss Kisaragi_, got it? K-I-S-A-R-A-G-I."

"I apologise Miss Kisaragi, it says Iitaka on the medical records." the doctor explained.

"Well it's wrong," I said angrily, unusually sensitive, "change it."

I felt Vincent squeeze my shoulders comfortingly.

"I'm afraid I don't have the authority to do that Miss Kisaragi."

I scowled. Argh! I hate Kai! That _bastard!_

Vincent leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Love, just let him take the blood sample so we can leave."

"But Vinnie, I don't even need a stupid blood test!" I didn't bother to whisper.

Instead of answering, Vincent pushed me back down into the chair in front of the doctors desk. I groaned in defeat.

"Lets just get this over with." he said, motioning to the doctor. He stood up and walked over to me, holding the needle and looking _very _intimidating. I eyed him apprehensively, and he smiled. I'm sure he meant it to be reassuring, but to me it just looked creepy. Hojo incarnate. Shudder.

"I can't do this!" I said, wrapping my arms around myself and trying to push the chair back with my legs. Vincent stopped me.

"This is going to happen." Vincent told me, giving me a stern look. I tilted my head back to look at him properly from my seat.

"Oh please Vincent, don't make me." I whispered, looking up at him through watery puppy-dog eyes for maximum impact, "It'll h-hurt!" I took in a shaky breath.

He blinked disbelievingly at me. The creepy doctor blinked uncertainly. Either way, I was winning. Damn I'm good.

Vincent glanced between me and the doctor repeatedly for a moment. His indecision was so cute I found my lips had curled into a very small, involuntary smile. Coupled with that little gleam I get in my eyes when I'm about to get what I want, he knew I was faking.

He shook his head, "It will only hurt for a second Yuffie."

I narrowed my eyes, my false tears disappearing as soon as they'd come.

"No." I said firmly, glaring at the doctor, "I'll sue."

It was rather amusing watching him immediately back away after those two magic words. Everyone's scared of lawyers. Mwuahaha.

Well, except Vincent, he just rolled his eyes.

"Please Yuffie, do it for me." my lover requested quietly. I looked up at him again, my mouth falling open.

"That's…emotional blackmail." I croaked, shocked he'd resort to such tactics.

"I know." He said, keeping his face perfectly blank. Well, if he wanted to play like that…

"If you love me, you won't make me give a blood sample." I told him, gazing into his eyes evenly even as they narrowed slightly.

"…Well played." he admitted, and I grinned widely, "Because I love you, you can help yourself to a few of my most powerful materia, if you let the doctor take a blood sample."

"Resorting to bribery now Vinnie?" I smiled sweetly, "And are you saying your love is conditional?"

Vincent made a frustrated noise in his throat. I giggled. I was actually winning an argument with the Vincent Valentine.

"Of course not. As proof, although you're being ridiculously difficult right now, I love you still."

Awww! That's so sweet. I sighed.

"Okay, just be careful with my gorgeously flawless skin." I told the doctor, sticking my left arm out. He still looked a little hesitant as he took my wrist and held the needle firmly in his other hand. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt Vincent's hands on my shoulders, either to offer comfort or to stop me moving. Perhaps both.

Then the _weapon _pierced my skin, and I cringed. "You totally sweet talked me into doing this, didn't you Vince?"

"…You can still have the materia." he answered.

The creepy doctor filled up _two _little test tubes full of my perfectly healthy blood. Probably didn't even need the second for medical reasons. I'd bet he just keeps a vial of each of his victims blood as a souvenir. Yeah, I'm in an insulting kinda mood. He deserves it.

"Thank you." Vincent told him as I pressed a piece of cotton wool to my arm, glaring. The doctor smiled again. Creepy.

"I swear he's the next Hojo." I told Vincent as we walked out. "He probably has a secret lab in his basement and everything."

"I highly doubt that Yuffie." Vincent replied patiently.

"You owe me lots of materia. Really good materia. In fact, I want you to scour the planet looking for a really old, one of a kind materia that no one's ever seen before that the Gods created in case the universe ever needed altering. I want that."

"One day, I will find it for you." he promised. I couldn't tell if he was serious or just humouring me.

"Well, it better be before I die. I mean, _you_ might have all the time in the world, but my days are numbered, so you should…" I trailed off when I saw the expression on his face.

"Vinnie?" I asked uncertainly. He didn't answer, just kept staring straight ahead as we walked. I stepped in front of him and he stopped, looking down at me. Silently, I waited for him to speak first, which lead to a few minutes of us just staring at each other in the middle of the street.

"What are you thinking?" I asked quietly, not being able to wait until he broke the silence.

"Yuffie, can we not talk about my, immortality," he almost cringed at the word, "again?"

I blinked, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

Biting my lip, I moved slightly to give him a quick hug, then froze.

It was her. I knew her.

She'd been in my nightmares more than once.

Long, golden blonde hair, and tanned skin. The most recent victim of my failures; she was dead.

Yet she was walking the streets, just over the road, moving through the crowds. She melded into them, and disappeared.

I tried to follow her without thinking.

Turning away from Vincent as he attempted to grab my hand, I ran across the road. A car screeched to a stop just before colliding with me, but I didn't stop running. I pushed through the crowds of nameless, faceless people, looking for just one of significance. When I couldn't find her, I ran down the nearest street to where she'd vanished. I stopped for a moment, looking around wildly.

"Yuffie!" Vincent caught up with me, not even slightly out of breath, "What's wrong?"

"Did you see her?" I exclaimed, spinning around to face him.

"Who?" he asked, gazing at me intently.

"I swear it was her, the woman the remnants killed in Costa Del Sol, the one we couldn't save. Blonde hair, brown eyes…"

Vincent was looking at me funny, "Yuffie, she's dead."

"I know that!" I yelled, "but I just _saw _her!"

He walked towards me and pulled me into his arms, pressing his hand to my forehead, "Are you feeling alright?"

I smacked his hand away, "I'm fine damn it! Just help me look-"

"Yuffie, stop this." He took my hands in his own, "You didn't see her. It was just some other woman that looked similar."

"No! It was her! I know it-"

"Shh." he pressed a finger to my lips, "It's not possible. She's dead and buried in an unmarked grave, the WRO couldn't identify her."

"But…"

"Just let it go Yuffie." he said, holding me close. I didn't know what to say. What the hell just happened?

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	28. Good News? That's Debatable

**Hello again. :) Apologies for my updates being so slow lately.**

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**TooLazyToLogin; Your review was very helpful, and it made me giggle. :) I know Vincent is possibly maybe perhaps a tiny bit OOC. I know! I just can't help it! D: I'll try and get it right when I do my 'major edit'. Oh, and without giving too much away, your theories on this story are…plausible. We'll just leave it at that. :D Thank you for reviewing!**

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**I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Now on with the chapter!**

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So…I've been pretty jumpy these last two days. Because apparently, I saw a ghost. Or maybe a zombie. But she wasn't grabbing random living people and eating their brains, which means she wasn't a zombie. Therefore she was a ghost. And it most definitely wasn't someone who just looked "similar". Nah ah. It was her. I know it was. I suppose it's possible she could be a vampire now. Or maybe she was before she 'died', cos then she wouldn't really have died cos those remnants didn't stake her through the heart or anything, just 'killed' her via mako poisoning. Can you even kill a vampire with an OD of mako? I dunno, apparently not.

Vincent thinks it's just my guilt messing with my head. He told me to just let it go. But how could I? I saw a fricking dead woman! No, wait, she's not dead, obviously. Otherwise I'm seeing ghosts. And I'll be chucked into a nut house.

But she _is _dead. I went to see her grave and everything. It didn't bring me any peace of mind like I thought it would. It didn't look like she'd clawed her way out one night under a full moon or anything either. So what the hell did I see?

Gawd, what was _wrong _with me?

I was rudely jerked out of my philosophical musings when my mobile rang. Caller ID told me it was 'Evil Doctor'.

Oh, maybe he can tell me.

"Hello?" I asked, pressing the phone to my ear.

"Hello Mrs Iitaka," a kindly sounding woman greeted, "I'm calling to inform you that your test results have come back."

"Great." I said unenthusiastically, "Anything important I should know about?"

"You'll have to come back in to get the results."

I frowned, "Wait…so I _am _ill?"

"The doctor will explain to you the details Mrs Iitaka. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

Sure as hell sounded like there was something to worry about to me.

"Um, okay. Like…now?" I asked uncertainly.

"As soon as you can Mrs Iitaka. It will only take five minutes of your time."

"Okay then, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"I'll tell the doctor you're on your way."

I hung up the phone without saying goodbye to the nurse-lady.

"Is everything alright Yuffie?" Tifa asked from her usual location behind the bar.

"I'm terminally ill." I told her, my expression dejected.

She gasped and dropped the glass she was holding. That made me smile. "Well, they told me to come in for my blood test results…"

"Oh Yuffie, that wasn't funny!" Tifa exclaimed, obviously relieved.

"I thought your reaction was." I said, grinning at her. She tutted and rolled her eyes as she grabbed a dustpan and brush and cleaned up the broken glass.

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked, re-emerging from under the counter, "Since Kai said he's got a lot of official sounding work to do."

And Vincent was doing something for the WRO. He'd been gone for twenty hours and thirty four minutes now. For some reason Reeve said it was a one man job.

"Yes please." I muttered gratefully.

Tifa smiled at me and began to tell the customers to clear out. It's actually quite often Tifa just shuts the bar before closing time without warning. Shows just how loyal her customers are, they always keep coming back. Suckers.

-x-

I fidgeted relentlessly in the waiting area, not even attempting to sit down. What was taking that creepy doctor so long? The last patient that went in there just looked like she had the _sniffles_ to me. _I _could be _dying._

Finally my name popped up on the screen. I grabbed Tifa's hand tightly, half pulling her to her feet.

"Alright Yuffie, calm down." she said, squeezing my hand.

"I can't be calm Teef! What if I need an operation? What if more _needles _are necessary?"

She shook her head, but smiled patiently. I burst into the doctors office, pulling her with me.

"Ah, Mrs Iit…Miss Kisaragi," the creepy doctor corrected himself, good save, I thought, "Please take a seat."

I sat, not letting go of Tifa's hand; so she was forced to pull her chair closer to mine before she could sit down herself.

"Your test results have come back-"

"And?" I interrupted impatiently.

"I have good news." he announced.

I blinked, "Huh?"

"You're pregnant." the doctor told me, smiling.

Somewhere, in a distant alternate universe, I heard alternate Tifa gasp, before exclaiming, "Oh my god!" at least twice. Then alternate me was pulled into a tight hug, and all the breath was squeezed from my lungs, before everything snapped back into reality as my lungs refilled again.

Tifa was still hugging me, though not as tightly, still repeating the "Oh my god!" mantra.

Yeah…Oh. My. God.

She pulled away from me, grinning. Obviously happy for me.

"You're around nine to twelve weeks along, Miss Kisaragi. You'll be scheduled for a dating scan-"

"Hold on." I said flatly, "I can't be pregnant."

"The test results confirm you are Miss Kisaragi." the doctor told me, "You had very high levels of the hormone HCG, which is made by the embryo after conception-"

"Stop." I cut him off again, "I'm on the pill."

"Have you forgotten to take it at any time?" he asked politely.

"Um…well, kinda. But only like once, or maybe twice…" My voice trailed off pathetically. Vincent had thought that there was no danger, due his alterations coupled with him _technically _being around sixty four years of age. But I'd decided to go on the pill anyway, just to be safe. Well, that quite obviously didn't work. I hadn't been careful enough.

"Who cares of it wasn't planned Yuffie?" Tifa said, "I'm sure Kai's going to be so excited!"

_Oh God…_

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Congratulations Miss Kisaragi." the doctor said, smiling his creepy smile. _Congratulations? _I can think of a good place he could stick his congratulations-

"Oh, you should ring Kai now Yuffs! Tell him the good news!" my best friend suggested enthusiastically.

"I will once we get back to the bar." I replied, standing up shakily.

"Miss Kisaragi, about your first scan, would you like-"

"Just do whatever, your the doctor!" I snapped, "You've got my number, ring me with whatever you decide!"

I turned and stormed out, hearing Tifa whisper animatedly, "Sorry about that, looks like the hormones are kicking in already."

I hurried out of the medical centre, trying my best not to cry.

"Yuffie, wait up!" I heard Tifa call from behind me. I didn't slow my pace, and instead she ran to catch up with me.

"What's wrong? Are you not ready for this?" she asked, concerned, "You know we'll all help you out, and I'm sure Kai is going to be so supportive-"

A strangled noise came from my throat, halfway between an incredulous chuckle and an ironic sob.

"Yuffie?" Tifa's warm hands took my own, her tone worried, "What is it?"

I took a few seconds in an attempt to force down the sobs, "I-it…it-"

"The baby?"

I nodded, and the tears spilled from my eyes, "It's n-not Kai's." I whispered almost inaudibly.

Tifa's eyes widened so much it would have been funny, had the situation not been so serious.

"Oh my god…" she whispered slowly, "Then, who's is it?"

My sobs had increased in volume, so much so I was surprised people weren't staring.

"…Vincent's." I told her, tears still streaming.

"Holy." Was all Tifa could manage to say. We both stood in silence for a few moments, except for my sobs.

"Right." she announced, "Okay." She grabbed my shoulders, "Pull yourself together woman!"

I tried to stifle my sobs with my hand.

"Was it a one time thing or…?"

I shook my head.

"You're having an affair?"

I nodded guiltily.

"Right…do you love him? Does he love you?"

I nodded again, my sobs subsiding.

"And it can only be Vincent's?"

"Yes." I told her, "I haven't…with Kai."

"Okay." she said, obviously in thinking mode, "Well then…"

"I can't tell Kai. I don't even want to go into Wutai's icky politics. He can't know."

"Okay. I won't tell a soul, I promise." she put a hand over her heart. I nodded, satisfied.

"You can tell Cloud, it'll only confirm his suspicions anyway. And he won't tell anyone."

My best friend smiled a little, "I had my own suspicions, ya know? But I just…well, I didn't think Vincent had it in him."

I laughed involuntarily, before swiping my tears away with the back of my hand.

"There, see? You've got Vincent. He'll help you through this."

I gave a small smile of agreement, before pulling out my cell phone and dialling my lovers number.

"Yuffie? Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Define _alright._" I responded slowly, and Tifa raised her eyebrows knowingly.

"…What has happened?" he sounded worried.

"I need you to come back to Edge. Like now."

"Are you in danger?"

"Well, not immediate danger. But there's no doubt I'll be thrown into the deep end soon enough."

"I don't understand."

"I'll explain everything once you get back, it's not exactly something I can tell you over the phone."

"Hn. I'm on my way."

"I'll wait at your apartment. See you soon."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Tifa asked as soon as I'd hung up.

I sighed, "No. I gotta tell him by myself."

She nodded in understanding, "I guess we'll see each other tomorrow then. What should I do if Kai comes round?"

"Act normal. If he asks, tell him we've been to the doctors, and my test results came back all clear."

"Okay." she gave me a quick hug, "Good luck."

-x-

I had no idea how to tell him. I mean, should I just come right out with it or give him hints until he figures it out? Maybe it was best if I just told him straight. Vinnie was a tough guy, he could handle it. I hoped. I considered getting a home pregnancy test and taking that too, so then he'd have proof. But I decided not to, he'll believe me, no matter how shocked he'll be.

I got up from Vincent's favourite armchair and started pacing around the dining table again. I didn't even know where the heck Reeve had sent him to, or how long it would be until he got back. He'd been gone for twenty four hours and nine minutes now. Twenty four hours and ten minutes…twenty four hours and eleven minutes…twelve minutes…thirteen minutes.

The door opened, and I jumped, not realising I'd been staring at the clock.

Vincent walked in quickly, frowning when he saw my expression.

"Yuffie, what-" he was abruptly cut of when most of the air left his lungs, courtesy of me, throwing myself at him.

"I missed you." I murmured into his shoulder as his arms encircled my waist.

"You called me back from a mission…because you missed me?" he asked incredulously.

"Heh, I wish…" I said. He pulled back to look at me, still frowning a little.

"Then what is it?"

I pursed my lips. He cocked his head to the side ever so slightly.

"I…uh." I swallowed loudly, not knowing how to start, "I got my blood test results back today."

Vincent's expression smoothed out into a blank mask, "Something is wrong." It wasn't a question.

"Not _wrong _exactly. I'm…mostly fine."

He stared at me, "But?"

"I-I'm…" I bit my lip, and he stared at me some more.

"Are you or are you not healthy?" he asked, clearly tense.

"Well, I'm not dying or anything." I answered.

He visibly relaxed, placing his hands on my upper arms. "What is the problem?"

I didn't say anything. I couldn't tell him. The words just wouldn't come out.

"…Your heart rate is very fast." my lover commented, "What is making you so nervous?"

Inspiration struck then. "How many hearts can you hear beating Vincent?" I whispered.

He frowned again to show me he didn't understand, but closed his eyes and listened anyway.

"…Three." he announced with his eyes still closed, obviously confused, "Including my own. There's yours, and another…"

"Where's it coming from?" I asked, still not managing anything above a whisper.

A moment of silence while my lover concentrated, even going as far as to halt his own breathing for a few seconds.

"It's very faint…" he whispered, almost to himself.

Then his eyes shot open, and we made eye contact for a split second, before his gaze was on my stomach.

"Impossible." he said, his deep voice sounding too loud after the quiet.

"Apparently not." I responded, quieter. He tightened his grip on my arms, as if for support.

"It's definitely yours." I told him, "Just so there's no confusion."

He lifted his gaze from my stomach to my face. I smiled slightly at his expression, he'd never looked so disorientated. I grabbed his hands and pulled him towards his armchair, where he sat gratefully. I couldn't help but giggle a little.

"Do need some water or something? In fact, I'm sure you've got some whiskey stashed somewhere…"

He shook his head, before grabbing my waist (very lightly, as though I'd break), and pulling me onto his lap. I curled up there instantly, nuzzling his neck in a form of comfort.

He took a slow, deep breath, "I need a minute."

I bit my lip to refrain from giggling again, and instead decided to play with the ends of his hair. It never ceased to amaze me.

"I know it's selfish…but I wanted this." he told me. I looked up in surprise.

"I wanted a tie to you, something solid that made you mine in someway. It seems I got my wish." he was smiling ironically, "My own family…"

He fell silent for a while, and I wanted to know more.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"This child, I wonder what it will be like. Will he or she inherit my…'alterations'? Will it be stronger than you, even when young? And what of my demons…?" he trailed off, lost in thought.

"You wanna know what I'm thinking?" I asked rhetorically. He gazed down at me, waiting for me to continue.

"This baby, is illegitimate. Do you know what that means for me Vince?"

He stayed silent. But I knew he knew, all too well.

"That means I'm going to be sentenced to death, assuming Godo finds out. And he will. How can I hide this, after all? And do you know what that means for Wutai, Vinnie?"

He closed his eyes.

"Kai takes over. And that's means Wutai's gonna _suffer. _It's not going to get any better."

My lover opened his eyes and gazed into mine.

"There is, the option of abortion." he suggested slowly.

I smiled and shook my head.

"No. Even with my inevitable death-"

"Yuffie." Vincent protested softly.

"Once Godo finds out it's not Kai's," I continued as though he hadn't spoken, "I want this too. I'm going to have this baby."

"You are not going to die." He told me. I smiled sadly.

"What are you gonna do Vinnie? Hide me for nine months? I think Kai and Godo will get a _little _suspicious."

"…Run away with me." he said, pressing his forehead against mine.

"You know that won't work." I replied, closing my eyes, "Kai will come looking for me. We'll always be running."

"Is it not worth a try?" he asked.

The longer I thought about it, the more the idea appealed to me. My lover could probably sense this, and leaned down to give me a persuasive, lingering kiss that took my breath away. Yes, a life with Vincent was _extremely _appealing.

"If we're caught," I whispered, still breathless, "We're dead."

"I'd rather die sooner with you than later without you." he murmured.

I opened my eyes and bit my lip, "I need to think about it."

"Of course."

I sighed and stretched out my legs over the chair arm, pressing a hand to my stomach. Vincent rested his hand over mine, and smiled a warm, almost timid smile I had never seen before.

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**Yuffie's preggers! Yeah, you all saw it coming, I know. :P But it's exciting right? Right! :D Yay for vampire ninja babies!**

**So, my laptop's still out of action. But I'm surviving...if you can call living without an internet connection 'surviving'. XD I almost forgot how much I loved writing this story. Almost. Like I could forget about you guys! :D**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


	29. Thief

**Hello. :) This chapter was being particularly evil to me. Not that I didn't know what I wanted to write, but the words just wouldn't co-operate. I kept jumbling them up and making stupid spelling mistakes and…gah! It was practically a vocabulary massacre. Seriously, it took me like an hour to write two paragraphs worth. Ridiculous, I know.**

**Anonymous replies: RjLikesCupCakes; I updated as quickly as I could once I saw your review, promise. I can't live off crumbs! I need cake to survive! :P Thank you for the cyber kit-kat, much love dear! :D**

**zen; Your awful feeling is fairly accurate. I shall say no more. I'm not going to tell you what I've decided will happen to Kai either! That was a good suggestion though. XD Thanks for reviewing!**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

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I'd like to point out that Kai's flat is boring. More so than usual today, as there were stacks of paperwork scattered everywhere visible to the naked eye. Thankfully, Kai didn't ask me to help with any of it, and he'd decided to take a break himself, slumping back onto the sofa and rubbing his eyes.

"What's wrong Yuffie? You've been acting weird lately."

_Oh crap he knows!_

_No, he doesn't! Shut up brain!_

"I guess I'm just tired, I haven't been sleeping that well." I replied, shrinking closer to his side.

"Hm. Homesick maybe?" Kai suggested, kissing my forehead.

"I don't want to go back to Wutai yet." I said firmly. My husband sighed, but nodded.

"Your blood test results must've been mixed up or something," he decided, "you're obviously not well. We should go back to the doctor-"

"No!" I said, too quickly. He blinked at me, surprised. "I-I hate that doctor!" I told him, "He's just awful, and he stuck a needle in my arm!"

He smirked, "Oh, that's just unforgivable."

I faked a pout, "Yeah, it is. He should be sacked."

A loud ringing noise sounded as soon as I'd finished my sentence.

"Ugh, they never leave me alone!" Kai complained, glaring at his cell phone on the table.

"…Aren't you going to answer it?" I asked, thoroughly confused. It was obviously one of my 'advisors' back in Wutai. Kai never neglected their calls. Ever.

"Nah." he answered, watching his mobile phone slowly vibrate across the coffee table, until finally ending up on the floor along with some paperwork.

"Wow." I said out loud, surprised. He laughed.

"I don't know whether to feel offended or proud at your tone."

"Feel proud. This is a huge step for you."

He laughed again, before snaking his arms around me and pulling me onto his lap. I didn't bother to resist.

"It's been ages since we've had time alone together." he murmured.

Yeah, it had been a fair few months now, that was the only reason I was here. Much to Vincent's _severe_ displeasure. He'd been following me around like a little lost puppy as of two days ago, since I told him I was pregnant. Being all observant and _way_ over protective. Leviathan forbid I even _stumble_…

I was gently snapped out of my thoughts as I felt my husband's hand curl around the back of my neck, just before he pressed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes and tried to relax into it, but it wasn't easy. Usually, Kai's kisses held nothing of significance; they didn't meananything. But this one did. It held a kind of longing that made my heart ache.

I pulled away quickly, alarmed. Kai blinked.

"What was that?" I asked, almost accusingly.

"A kiss?" he answered uncertainly.

"No…that was more than a kiss. That was…what was that?"

He snorted, "I don't think I kissed you any differently to what I usually do."

"You so did!" I exclaimed, still shocked.

"Alright then, love." he agreed peacefully.

I blinked, and shook my head a few times, trying to clear it. _What the fricking hell was that about?_

"My family are coming to visit Edge tomorrow." Kai told me, changing the subject.

My stomach dropped, "Oh."

He smiled lopsidedly, "My father, brother and sisters. My mother…well. She said she was busy."

"Uh, yeah. I didn't really make the best impression, did I?"

My husbands grin grew, "Not exactly, no."

I cleared my throat awkwardly. He shook his head.

"I couldn't care less what she thinks. People can either love you how you are, or just fuck the hell off."

I laughed, "Thanks."

Kai squeezed my waist gently, "I love you."

I smiled, but it felt so wrong to say it; "I love you too."

I leaned back to slide off his lap, and ended up knocking off a pile of paperwork from the sofa arm onto the floor, littering it further. Kai grinned as I sighed and reached over to pick it up.

"No, it's okay, just leave it-" My husband started.

"Nah, I got it." I said, scooping up the last of the bank statements.

Bank statements? I took a look at the first one I had picked up. It was for one of many from Wutai's bank accounts. Now, obviously the Wutaian government owned the banks, and we -meaning myself, Godo and Kai- controlled the government. Wutai's government consisted mostly of my advisors, who made most of the big decisions which were approved or disapproved by the big bosses. The big bosses being myself, Godo or Kai. This particular bank statement told me 3054 gil had been withdrawn. Transaction point in Edge.

I rifled through the others in my hands. This one said that 443 gil had been withdrawn, and 6460 had been paid in a day later. The next one said 2824 gil had been withdrawn two weeks ago, from a cash point in Edge. These were small amounts compared to the big banks of Wutai, but they were all labelled 'Mr Kai Iitaka', and each bank statement told me a different account number.

"Kai." I said sharply, "Where is this money going?"

"Sorry?" he asked politely.

"All these accounts," I started slowly, "can't belong to you alone."

"Some are Wutai's citizens' accounts," he explained, and I stood up quickly, "some withdrawals are from bills and such, but some profits we've been making from trading are going to the people."

"Why don't I believe you?" I asked, holding tight to the pieces of paper in my hand.

Kai's eyes hardened, "Because you think I'm lying, obviously."

I crossed my arms defensively, "Vincent said Wutai was having economical problems-"

"And you honestly believe that freak over me? What does he know?"

I gaped, "How _dare_ you call Vincent that?"

Kai stood up angrily, "That's what he is! Why do take everything he says as fact?"

"Vincent wouldn't lie!"

"Sure he would, to make me look bad!" He shouted back, "He's no angel Yuffie; you just seem oblivious to all his faults!"

Okay, so maybe I was…I uncrossed my arms and stamped my foot, "Oh, don't flatter yourself, Vincent wouldn't do that! Compared to you, he's-"

I cut myself off before I spilled my guts, internally shocked at how close I'd come to revealing what I truly thought of my secret lover.

"No, go on!" my husband said loudly, a strange expression on his face, "He's what?"

I clenched my jaw before replying, changing my answer, "Compared to you, he'd be a perfect husband!"

Kai's arm came up, and I instinctively flinched away, squeezing my eyes shut in preparation for a blow that surprisingly didn't come.

I opened my eyes slowly, to discover Kai had stopped himself, though he was still shaking with anger. Instead he grabbed my jaw, not exactly gently.

"Don't," he hissed at me, "talk about other men like that. Now give me those." He tried to take the bank statements off me, but I ripped them away from his grasp. Kai gripped my jaw tighter, so I couldn't move away, "Give me them Yuffie! Now!"

"No!" I yelled, struggling away from him.

A loud knocking filled the room, and I thanked Leviathan and all the other Gods. Kai took a deep breath, seeming to calm himself, before moving to answer it.

It was Cloud.

"Kai," he greeted, "I'm here to pick up Yuffie, Tifa requests her help at the bar. And when she says _requests_, she really means _demands_."

I blinked, and Kai made a noise of amusement before turning to me.

"Oh. Well, you heard the man." he said, smiling, "I've always got the impression that you shouldn't mess with Tifa."

Cloud chuckled, "You're not wrong."

I folded the mess of paper in my hands and stuffed it into my back pocket, walking over to Cloud, until my husband stopped me at the door, gripping my hand gently and kissing me on the cheek.

"I'll talk to you later." he said. I didn't bother to fake a smile, and instead walked out the door with Cloud as my escort. I swore I could feel Kai's burning gaze on my back as I went.

I sighed in relief as we turned the corner, "Cloud, you have the most impeccable timing _ever_."

"I heard a lot of shouting…" the swordsman glanced at me with something close to concern.

I smiled sadly and shook my head, "It was nothing."

"Listen, Yuffie-"

"Cloud, just leave it alone." I told him sternly. He fell silent for a few paces.

"Just know, Avalanche is here for you. All of us."

I smiled again, more genuinely, "I know, thanks."

He was quiet for another while, until, "Tifa hasn't really sent for you. It was Vincent that asked me to get you."

I made a noise of understanding, "Ah, I should've known. But how did you know Kai's address?"

Cloud cleared his throat, "I think Vincent followed you there."

I frowned, but he continued, "He was just looking out for you."

"I think I'll have to have a word with him. Where is he now?"

"Seventh Heaven." the swordsman answered shortly, just as the bar came into view.

"Right." I said determinedly.

"Go easy on him Yuff." Cloud said, clearly amused.

I burst through the bar doors. Damn, it would've been so much cooler if they'd been saloon doors…

Tifa and Vincent looked up expectantly. Vincent had obviously been in the process of pacing in front of the bar.

"Yuffie." he sounded relieved as I walked up to him, "Are you-"

He was interrupted as I thumped him on the shoulder.

"Stop being so overprotective!" I scolded, "To answer your unfinished question, yes, I'm perfectly fine!"

He sighed, "I just-"

"Ah!" I shushed him, "I'm not going to keel over or anything Vince, so you-"

"I just don't trust Kai alone with you." he finished his sentence, interrupting my own. I made a face at him, sticking out my tongue. He narrowed his eyes. We both scowled at each other, neither wanting to back down, but it was inevitable really. The corners of my lips kept twitching as I fought the urge to smile. Vincent's heart obviously wasn't in his glare, and his eyes softened.

We stepped into each others embrace at the same time, though neither of us would apologise, of course.

I'd almost forgot Cloud and Tifa were there.

"Hi guys." I said, turning my head to look at them, the grin I had been holding back suddenly lighting up my face.

Cloud shook his head, smiling slightly. And Tifa muttered, "That was so weird…"

It was nice not having to hide my feelings for Vincent. I didn't think he was one for the PDAs, but his arms tightened as he leaned down a little to plant a kiss on my forehead before he let me go.

"It's actually really sweet…" I heard my best friend murmur.

"Teef, you know you're saying these things out loud right?" I asked, still grinning.

"I was trying to communicate with you and Cloud at the same time." she defended herself. I giggled.

Tifa's expression suddenly became serious, "Yuffie, what are you going to do?"

I didn't have to ask what she was talking about. The grin slipped from my face as I pressed a hand to my stomach.

"I dunno Teef." My voice sounded wobbly even to my own ears. Cloud frowned.

Vincent's human fingers threaded through mine, "We'll be alright." he said quietly, trying to reassure me.

It didn't work.

-x-

Ya know, I was never that great at maths. Once I'd learnt the basics, that was it. I was off materia hunting. However, if my calculations were correct, then Kai had withdrawn 33457 gil from numerous bank accounts, and deposited 21732 gil into a significant few accounts. And that was just from the few bank statements I had.

Something was most definitely _wrong _here.

"What are you doing, Yuffie?" Vincent finally asked after enduring forty minutes of my frustrated sighs and angry growls.

"I think I think Kai's swindling Wutai's money." I confided from my position in front of the fireplace. My temperature was all over the place lately, therefore I demanded the fire to be on constantly.

Vincent kneeled down next to me, taking the piece of paper from my hands.

"Hn. I thought so." he said, placing the paper on the floor and standing up again.

"You thought so?" I repeated incredulously, "Then why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. I thought Lord Godo would soon deal with it."

I groaned and got up, "Obviously not. And I have no clue what to do about it."

"Are you not going to stop him?" my lover asked.

"How am I supposed to do that? These bank statements aren't exactly solid evidence. Godo won't believe me; he thinks Kai can do no wrong."

Vincent frowned.

"Yeah." I agreed with what I knew he was thinking.

"Would it hurt to call him?" he suggested. I sighed, thinking. Was the old coot even aware of what Kai was doing? I supposed he could do with a warning, at least.

"Can I borrow your phone?" I asked, "I don't think he'll pick up if he sees the caller ID."

He nodded and handed me his cell phone, one that I'd helped pick out. I dialled my fathers number and held it to my ear, taking a seat in Vincent's favourite armchair as I did so. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I smiled mischievously.

"Hello? Who is this?" I heard my fathers raspy voice answer.

"Hey old man. It's me."

"Yuffie." he sounded surprised, "Whatever is the matter, daughter?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, personally. I'm calling about Wutai."

"Oh." If it were possible, Godo sounded even more surprised, "What about it?"

"…How's it doing? Are the people happy?"

"I don't know what has made you suddenly take an interest in your country, Yuffie, but I sense it is not the true reason you have called."

"I…well, um," I glanced up at Vincent, who gave me a reassuring nod, "I think Kai's been stealing from Wutai. He's been withdrawing money from all these bank accounts, and I heard that we were having problems, and I think that's the cause. So…um, yeah." I finished lamely, slightly taken aback he'd let me speak without interrupting.

"What is your evidence to support this accusation?" Godo asked calmly. Too calmly, I thought.

"I stumbled across all these bank statements at Kai's flat-"

"And by 'stumbled across' I'm sure you mean 'stole'." There, I knew he'd comment on something eventually.

"No, I knocked a huge pile of paper over and there they were."

"A likely story." he sounded sceptical, yet amused.

"It's true!" I defended rightly, and my father chuckled.

"My thieving habits are not the most important topic here!" I exclaimed, frustrated, "I just told you I think Kai's-"

"I heard what you said, daughter. Contrary to what you believe, I am not deaf."

"Then-"

"I do not make the decisions anymore, Yuffie." Godo told me, "I handed leadership over to Kai months ago."

My heart sank almost painfully. Wutai was screwed.

"I can overrule him, if I wish. But there is no need to do so, when he is doing such a good job. Without your help." He added scathingly.

"…I knew you wouldn't believe me." I said, ending the call before he had the chance to reply.

Vincent, who had stood silently and patiently throughout my phone call, made his way over to me. I held out his phone for him, but he didn't take it. Instead he picked me up bridal style, before taking his rightful seat in his arm chair and placing me on his lap. Which was usually _my _rightful seat. I curled up there as I usually did.

"I hate him sometimes." I commented dryly. Yuffie Kisaragi, you will not allow yourself to feel disappointment. Do you care what Godo thinks? No madam, you do not.

Vincent kissed my nose lightly in comfort.

"I don't know what to do." I muttered, suddenly tearful for the second time that day.

"Shh." he squeezed me closer to him. He didn't have to ask me what I meant. He understood the double meaning of my words; I didn't know what to do about Kai stealing from Wutai, nor what to do with my _life._

"Listen," my lover murmured, "I can tell you what I think you should do."

I sniffled a little, before resting my head on his shoulder.

"I think," he began softly, "we should run. Immediately. Find a safe place-"

"Nowhere will be safe Vince," I said dejectedly, "Kai will hunt me down."

"You will be safe if you are with me." he promised, "I won't allow any harm to come to you, or our child."

"We'll have to keep moving," I still spoke in a flat tone, "We'll never have a proper home."

"But we'll be happy."

"Yes." I admitted, "But for how long? How long until Kai gets to me? You know he will eventually. Gaia's just not big enough to hide us, Vinnie."

"We'll wait," he decided, obviously against his better judgement, "until the last minute."

"Just before my tummy becomes too big to hide." I caught on to his train of thought. He nodded.

"It gives the you both the best chance of survival."

I inhaled deeply, "I can't leave Wutai, not when it's in such a bad state…"

"Just forget about it. The people will survive without you."

I shook my head against his shoulder, "Not when Kai's Emperor."

Vincent sighed, and it sounded slightly frustrated, "Please Yuffie. Leave it be. Let's just run."

Wutai or Vincent? Oh Leviathan. _Wutai _or _Vincent_.

"Please don't make me choose between you and my country." I whispered.

"…It pains me to do so, love. But you cannot have both."

I felt a great sense of loss even before the words came out of my mouth, "Then I'll have to live without Wutai." I said simply.

* * *

**And that's all for now folks. :) Hope you enjoyed it. The Iitaka's are coming to Edge next chapter, so that should be interesting, no?**

**I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter. Words cannot express...no seriously, they just can't.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xoxo**


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